Repercussions
by The Dark Knight's Princess
Summary: Without pain, there would be no suffering, without suffering we would never learn from our mistakes. To make it right, pain and suffering is the key to all windows, without it, there is no way of life - Angelina Jolie. This is a story of pain, passion, pleasure, and the power of how love and friendship can bind together to over come any problem. A/C R
1. Prologue

**A/N: As per suggested, I was dying to post this. Granted, I'm not going to actually full on start the story until I complete Stuck in the Middle, but I just wanted to get the prologue out there. It'll bother me knowing that I subconsciously wrote this and it's just sitting on my computer. Anyway, it'll be…a little different, and I promise you guys are going to hate Liz in this story. That's all I'm gonna say ;) hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: Any Law and Order character in this story does not belong to me. The original characters are mine however. **

Rachel Givens is proud to finally turn twenty seven, she doesn't know what it is about her twenty seventh birthday but it makes her feel like she's hit a milestone in her life. She feels like she can officially be seen as an actually adult, where as in the past people would still look upon her adolescent. Granted, she was looked upon as a twenty year old adolescent but an adolescent nonetheless.

In honor to celebrate her very own personal coming of age, she decided to go out and party with her two best friends at one of their favorite hang outs. What else would she need other than friends and booze on her birthday?

"This place is super hot." Melanie Taylor says giddily as she takes a sip of her favored tropical drink. "What a way to finally turn twenty seven, huh Rache?"

Rachel hums as she takes a well earned sip of the colorful contents in her glass. "You have no idea." She smiles, swatting the hand of Sasha Kessler as she reaches for a French fire in the basket at the middle of the table. "Don't touch my fries Sasha. Those are birthday fries."

Sasha rolls her eyes as she picks up a fry anyway and then proceeds to make a huge deal out of taking bite of it. "Mmmm and they are very delicious birthday fries." She drawls earning a laugh from her friends.

"So how does it feel to be the great twenty seven?" Melanie asks as she steals one of the notorious birthday fries for herself.

Rachel sighs happily and relaxes even more into the both they're occupying for the night. "I feel old, and believe it or not, very horny."

At this Sasha snorts and fails miserably to hold in her giggles. "I didn't know that turning a year older turned you on so much."

"It isn't so much that turning a year older has turned me on, it's the fact that I haven't been with someone in what seems like forever. A girl has needs, and my needs aren't being satisfied."

The two other girls eye the complaining blonde curiously before turning to each other and sharing a very hearty laugh at their friend's expense. Honestly, they wouldn't expect anything less from Rachel so they don't exactly know why they are at all surprised.

"You reaaaaally need to get out more Rache. There's more to turning twenty seven than just sex." Melanie states giggling at Rachel's exasperation at being sexually frustrated.

Rachel sighs heavily before she rests her head on the back of the both. "But I need to have sex. It's not like it's a want anymore. It has been so long that it has become a NEED for me to get some. I mean, just think about it; think about the longest time you've been without, and then multiply that by a hundred, that is how I feel."

"You could look for someone tonight, you know, just as a filler." Sasha suggests with a small shrug. "Mel and I both know that you aren't looking for something long term at the moment, so why not just go and have some fun on your birthday? Take someone back to your hotel room, and just go at it."

Rachel sits up in the both and grins as she fixes the pony tail her hair is in. "To be honest, that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all." she drawls, a well placed smirk at her lips as she gazes over the other patrons of the bar.

Melanie snickers as she and Sasha watch their best friend scan the area for any kind of potential suitor for the night. They know she's found something when a very satisfied smirk spreads across Rachel's face.

"What about her?" Rachel asks perkily, her finger pointing to somewhere across the bar.

Sasha leans over and follows Rachel's line of vision with her own. She makes a face and cocks her head like a confused puppy when she sees her friend referring to a lean blonde with hair cascading down her back, seated at a table by herself as she seems to absentmindedly stir the contents of the drink before her. Sasha blinks several times before she turns back to Rachel in bewilderment.

"Uh, Rache, doesn't she seem a little…old for you?" the dark haired girl asks curiously, starting to question her best friend's sanity.

Melanie snorts as she remembers the miniscule little detail that Rachel does have a thing for older women, a thing that the two of them haven't particularly discussed around Sasha until now. Scooting over to the edge of her side of the booth, Melanie hums as she lays eyes on the woman in question.

"Oh c'mon Sasha, she doesn't look _that_ old, and I bet she's a lot younger than you think she is." Rachel whines unceremoniously. "Plus, you gotta admit, she is _super _hot."

"Sasha might have a point, for once." Melanie states, earning her a disapproving look from Sasha. "She might not be that older, but she's still older than you. What if she's trouble? Maybe you should look for someone your age."

Rachel rolls her eyes and groans at how difficult her friends are being. Honestly, why would they tell her to do something if they're just going to act like her parents in the long run?! "You said look for somebody, I did, and I found somebody. Besides, since she's older than me wouldn't that be a bit of a bonus."

"Rache, we just trying to look out for you because we're your friends…"

"Guys seriously, she looks like she maybe weighs a hundred and ten pounds. It's not like she's going to take advantage of me or anything. Tell you what, if she's older than thirty five, I won't sleep with her." Rachel concludes with a wink as she picks up her drink and saunters over to the blonde.

She takes a sip of her drink and puts on her most seductive smile as she slides her hand across the back of the empty chair. She's a bit caught of guard by the pair of icy blue eyes that meet her gaze, but her smile doesn't waver nonetheless.

"Is this seat taken?"

* * *

Alexandra Cabot feels numb. Numb to the point where she feels like she belongs in one of those lame movies about the walking dead, and she is the main leader of the antagonizing race. She feels numb on the inside and out, and if she were being honest with herself, if someone asks her what is wrong, the only thing she would be able to respond with is the fact that she feels numb.

The reasons for her feeling completely and totally numb are the fact that the love of her life has recently broken up with her. So recently that it has probably only been a couple of hours or so since it happened, and ever since that, Alex has felt numb.

Granted, now that she thinks about it, it's her own fault that they've broken up. If she weren't such a workaholic, and everything else that's wrong with her, she still might be in a working relationship. But instead, she's stuck in the pitiful rut of a now lonely life, and she doesn't know what to do. She can recall clearly what her lover had said, 'it's only a break' but to Alex, 'only a break' means the complete shattering of her heart.

_ "Alex, you have to understand that our relationship needs this." Casey Novak states as she watches Alex pace the length of her living room. "There's only so much that I can do on my own, and we can't keep fighting the fact that we're having problems." _

_ Alex blinks several times in an effortless attempt to keep her unwanted tears at bay. She will be damned if she's going to cry, especially right now. "I thought we were fine Casey, I didn't realize that we were having problems. If you were unhappy you should have come to me!" _

_ "I did come to you Alex," Casey exclaims, throwing her arms in the air. "I came to you on several occasions and you just weren't there. You weren't there, you wouldn't listen, and you'd brush everything off as if it were okay. You're putting your job before me Alex. Yes, I get that, I understand what we do is our lives, don't forget that I'm still your ADA, but you just can't put literally everything else before me. I just can't be that part of your life that you run to whenever you feel like it. You can't…you can't just neglect me like you have, and then wonder why I can't deal with this anymore." _

_ "Casey, I'm trying okay? Just…work gets in the way, and I get really busy and I just…I just don't have time for anything!" _

_ "I know that, because you don't have time for me." Casey states sadly as she wraps her arms around herself. "Which is why I think that a break would be good for us; you could focus on your work, and not worry about me pestering you to spend time with me or other petty things like that." _

_ Alex stops her pacing and crosses the room where she takes both of the redhead's hands in her own. "Casey, you aren't pestering me, and I would love nothing more than to spend every waking moment of my life with you. I just…work gets in the way and I try to make time, but things never work out and…" _

_ Casey places her finger over Alex's lips to urge her to stop talking, something that the blonde attorney never seems to do. "I know…you make time, then something comes up, and you have to cancel and in other scenarios you're really tired…I know Alex, I've heard it all before. That's why I think we need this break." _

_ A small whimper escapes Alex's lips as she turns away, not wanting Casey to see her cry. "But…I don't want a break…" she chokes out quietly, her voice mirroring that of a small child whose just been let down over something she's really wanted. _

_ Casey sighs as she places both of her hands on Alex's shoulders, flinching when she feels a small bounce alerting her to the fact that the blonde is crying. Not once in their relationship has she ever seen Alex cry over anything. She's seen her come close, but never ever has she seen her shed a tear. _

_ "Alex honey, it's only a break. It'll give us time to think about 'us' and explore more on what we want. We could see different people at the time, and we could live our lives like-" _

_ "I don't want to see different people Casey!" Alex shouts as she spins around revealing her tear streaked face. "I don't want to see different people, I don't want a break, I don't want time to 'reevaluate who we are'. I don't want any of that! I want you, and I want you because I love you and I want you to love me, and everything can just be back like it was when we first started dating…" _

_ Casey sighs again as she shakes her head once more. "Everything can't be back like it was when we first started dating because you had time for me then. You just don't have time for me anymore." _

_ Alex hands her head in sadness and shame. Never once in her life has she felt more vulnerable, broken, and ashamed all at the same time. "Is there anything I can do…?" she whimpers, not feeling like the strong and together Alexandra Cabot anymore, but just simply Alex who needs someone to hold her. _

_ Casey steps forward and rests her hand on the blonde's cheek, gently stroking the soft skin with her thumb. "I'm afraid not. We just nee time okay?" she concludes before she moves forward and replaces her hand with a gentle kiss. She moves back and picks Alex's jacket up off the couch and hands it to her. "I think you should go…" _

_ Nodding dumbly, Alex takes her hoodie and slips it on before she digs her hands deep into the pockets. She opens her mouth to say something but with the look that Casey is giving her, she decides that she'd be better off saying nothing. So instead of speaking, instead of fighting she simply hangs her head once more as she allows Casey to show her the door. She would fight, it's just that she isn't sure that she has the fight that she needs left in her._

* * *

And that reason right there is why Alex finds herself alone at a bar staring blankly into the contents of what is probably her third drink. It's actually amazing once she thinks about it, under normal circumstances after her third drink, she would be on her way to being completely drunk, but tonight…tonight is different. Tonight, even through her drinking, she can still think rationally. Maybe it's because of the pain, or the hurt, or the anguish; she doesn't know, all she knows is that she feels completely numb because of it.

"Is this seat taken?"

Alex is brought out of her thoughts by someone standing by the chair opposite of her. She casts her gaze upward and finds herself met with the cobalt blue eyes of a young blonde who, if Alex has numbers right, looks to be in her mid to late twenties. Honestly, what could this girl possibly want?

Raising her eyebrows in curiosity she decides to humor the girl nonetheless. After all, what does she have to lose? She holds her hand out towards the chair and manages an inviting smile. "Please."

She watches as the girl's flashy smile widens as she sits at the table and places her drink on the table. She studies the attorney for a moment before offering her hand in initiating contact. "I'm Rachel."

Alex takes note of the handshake that's being offered. She knows it's the flirtatious version of the dead fish handshake that is typically meant to signal the giving up the control, but she takes the Rachel's hand nonetheless. "Alex."

Rachel hums upon feeling the older woman's hand grasp her own. "So, Alex, what are you doing over here all by your lonesome?"

"Why do you assume I am alone?" Alex queries, "Unless you've been watching me all night."

"Well, that'll just have to be my little secret now won't it?" Rachel replies with a wink.

Alex chuckles, and crosses one leg over the other as she leans back in her chair. "What can I do for you, honey; a young girl like you doesn't just walk up to someone who is nearly ten years her senior for no apparent reason."

At this Rachel raises her eyebrows in interest. "And why do you assume that I am ten years your junior? How old do you think I am? Please tell me what you think you know."

"I know enough to know that you're still in your twenties." Alex states with a small shrug. "Don't try to tell me I'm wrong. Everyone gets this certain look to them after they turn thirty."

"And have you gotten that look?"

"Had it for four years now." Alex sighs with a small smile as she turns her attention back to her drink.

Rachel hums in interest once more and empties the contents of her own drink. "Well, you can't tell. I turned twenty seven just today."

"Well happy birthday."

"Thank you. So tell me Alex, do you have a girlfriend?"

Alex slightly flinches at the term 'girlfriend' and a look of hurt flashes across her face, but just as soon as it's there, it's gone. "It's complicated…." She mumbles, staring into the amber liquid in her glass.

The younger blonde tilts her head to the side, in small question at Alex's behavior. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Not particularly, no."

"Oh, well then, I guess we won't talk about it."

Alex raises her eyebrows once more and she eyes the young woman in curiosity as she tries to figure out her motives. "What is it you want to talk about?"

Rachel hesitates for a moment before she sighs and sits down her empty glass. "I'll just cut to the chase here. You're a _really _attractive woman, and you look like you could use some company. Quote your words from before: don't try to tell me I'm wrong."

Alex snorts and laughs lowly at the seduction seeping through the young woman's words. "I'm afraid that I'm a little old for the whole fling thing sweetheart."

"What's that one saying? 'Age ain't nothing but a number'?"

Once again, Alex can feel the gears in her head beginning to turn. As ridiculous as this offer is beginning to sound, she knows that she needs to feel something, anything; anything to help her forget about the pain for the time being. She quickly downs the rest of her drink and stands from her chair.

Rachel smiles as stands from her chair as well and takes the hand of the older blonde. She glances over her shoulder and winks at her friends whose jaws have unceremoniously fallen out to the floor. Whoever said that age mattered?

**As always, I promise a happy ending ;) it's just getting to that ending. Leave your thoughts, this is gonna be a bumpy ride hehehehehe. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: O.O oh this chapter…this chapter…I just. I don't know what to say. Well, given that this story is…different, I have successful mixed up some of the pairings a little in an attempt to make things a little lighter. Happy Readings…mwahahahahaa..**

Alex squeezes her eyes shut upon the sudden onslaught of sunlight that has been thrust in her face her face, ruining her somewhat peaceful slumber. Her eyes screw together in an attempt to keep out the unwanted light, and to drift back off into the much needed sleep, but sadly, her efforts are proven to be futile. With a quiet sigh, she opens her eyes, and for a full minute or so, it takes her a while to figure out her surroundings.

Sitting up in the bed, she blinks hard several times as if trying to force herself to wake up. She rakes her hands through her hair, and steadies her vision and it is then that she takes note of all her clothes strew in random places about the hotel room. But of course her clothes around the room; why else would she be sitting there naked in a bed that is most definitely not hers?

Every memory from the night before begins flooding back, and Alex groans upon realizing what she's done. She lifts her head out of her hands, and glances to her right at the very obviously slept in, but otherwise empty bed. Deciding that this is her best chance, she unsteadily gets out of bed, and begins her trek around the room in putting all her clothes back on before that girl (Rachel was it?) reappears thinking that last night was more than it actually was.

As Alex exits the hotel to hail a cab back to her apartment, she tries to ignore the dull thud there is in the back of her head, resembling that of one of her many natural headaches. Although it may be a natural headache, it could very well have to do with her alcohol consumption the night before. She doesn't know, and frankly, she isn't sure she cares. All she wants to do is get back to her home, take a shower, and figure out what to do for the rest of this otherwise miserable day.

Once back at her apartment, Alex peels her clothes off as she makes her way into the bathroom, and she takes probably the world's hottest shower in history. She still needs to feel something, and she's going to do anything she can by any means necessary.

After a while, she finds herself sitting curled up in her shower, while the scalding hot water pours over her skin, feeling like thousands of thin little needles pricking her all at once. The tears that force their way past her emotional barrier pour down her face, mixing with the water from her shower. Even after that night with Rachel, she still feels completely numb. Sure, it was fine at the time, and everything seemed okay, but if Alex were to be completely honest with herself, she knows that the only reason that she even left the bar with Rachel is because of Casey.

Alex needed to feel something, anything, as opposed to the cold, numb, clammy feeling that made itself know after Casey had left her. Rachel was simply a distraction from all that for the time being and Alex knew going into it that she personally wasn't looking for that start of something new. Not so soon, and most definitely not with someone who is at least seven years her junior. Last night was all about feeling, and not the emotional kind, but the physical kind. But did it really solve anything? Probably not. She has absolutely no idea how she's going to push herself to go to work after something like this. She just doesn't know how she's going to do it. Especially when she has to work with Casey in such close proximities on a daily basis.

**District Attorney's Office of Manhattan **

"How are you holding up?" Alex's best friend Serena Southerlyn asks concernedly. "If you had needed me this weekend, you know that I would have been there for you if you wanted me to come over or something."

Alex shakes her head and rests her head on her desk for a small period of time before she looks back up at Serena and sighs. "No, I needed to be alone for the rest of the weekend. I don't think I could've dealt with talking about it so soon. Hell, I'm not sure if I can deal with talking about it now."

Serena raises her eyebrows in sadness upon seeing her usually composed and collected best friend, so depressed and broken looking. If anything, all she wants to do is give Alex a hug, but she's not sure how well that would blow over at the time being. Serena considers herself to be a very talkative person. Hell, everyone in the entire office considers Serena to be a very talkative person, but this is one moment where the charismatic blonde has absolutely no idea of what she can say to even make her friend feel better in the slightest.

"Alex, I'm really sorry about all of this. Just know that as your best friend, I'm here for you regardless right? You can come to me anytime, day or night." She says softly and sincerely.

A small smile ghosts across Alex's lips and her saddened eyes cast down to her desk for a brief moment. "Thanks Rena, that really means a lot." She murmurs before sighing and leaning back in her chair. "So, how is everything on your neck of the woods?"

This time, it's Serena who sighs heavily and slumps down in her seat across from Alex's desk. "Oh, everything's so-so right now I guess. You know we're getting a new ADA."

"Who's getting a new ADA?" Olivia Benson asks as she enters the room and drops a file folder on Alex's desk.

Alex thanks the detective for the folder and she drops it into one of the various stacks on her desk before turning back to her previous conversation. "New ADA? What, did you get fired and they not tell you for something?"

Serena rolls her eyes and allows Olivia to give her a kiss on the cheek before she sticks her tongue out at her best friend. "Ha, ha, you're sooooo funny. But yes, we're getting a new ADA, or _another _ADA I should say. The workload in our unit is ridiculous and Liz felt the need to hire another ADA, so here we are. I think she'll be here some time later today."

"Ooo homicide is gonna have three of you guys to deal with?" Olivia states as she shakes her head. "I don't know what I'd do if we got another ADA. I can barely stand Alex and Casey as is."

Alex rolls her eyes and flicks a pen at the detective, succeeding in missing drastically and ending up popping Serena in the head with the object. Oh well, at least it wasn't a complete loss.

"Hey!" Serena shouts rubbing her head from where it came in contact with a not so well aimed pen. She puts on her best pout and looks up at Olivia who is failing miserably to hold in her laughter. "Baby, Ali is being mean to me. You should put her in time out."

"Aw you poor thing." Olivia coos sarcastically but leans down to give the pouting blonde a kiss anyway. "There, it's all better now."

"You two are so cute it's sickening. I think I'm gonna throw up." Alex murmurs from her chair. Truth be told, she is totally jealous of her best friend's relationship. But who wouldn't be when your best friend is in a relationship with someone who is super sweet while yours has completely unraveled at the seams?

Olivia makes a face and shakes her head in disapproval. "Ew, please Alex, spare me, I just ate. How are you by the way? What with…you know? Do you need anything?"

Alex frowns for a moment before it dawns on her what the detective is referring to. Of course Liv would know, she's dating Serena, and Serena can't keep anything quiet to save her life. Not that Alex minds or anything, everyone else is gonna find out sooner or later. "I'm…holding up, thanks for asking. I think I'll be fine."

Liv nods and whispers something in Serena's ear causing the attorney to blush and giggle before she bids good day to both women, and heads back to work.

Serena sits in her chair giggling to herself for a moment before she catches the look on Alex's face and clears her throat awkwardly. "Ali, I'm sorry…I can, totally be unhappy if you want, and if it'll make you feel better." She offers sincerely.

Alex shakes her head and slumps further down into her seat. "No Rena, it's completely fine. You and Liv are just so cute together; I don't think Casey and I ever looked like that. God, I'm such a fuck up, I don't think I'll ever get her back. But I don't want to wallow in my own self pity right now; I wanna hear more about this new ADA. You haven't met her?"

Serena shakes her head vigorously at the question. "Nuh uh, I haven't. Now that I think about it, I haven't even seen her. I don't think Abbie has met her either. Poor thing, she has no idea how bad she's gonna have it when Abbie starts flirting with her."

"Oh yeah, remember how she tried to use her so called southern charm on you and Olivia damn near shot her? It was great. But in all seriousness, Liz should have a talk with Abbie about hitting on the newbie; we don't want her to scare her."

**Meanwhile…**

"Case, I am not gonna scare her! I'm not a scary person!" Abbie Carmichael exclaims as she crosses her arms tightly at her best friend's commands.

Casey raises her eyebrows and shakes her head. "If you flirt with her like you did with Serena, you're gonna scare her. Remember how Serena threatened you with that sexual harassment claim? Granted, she wasn't serious about it in the slightest up it was still funny watching you squirm like that."

Abbie rolls her eyes and flips Casey the bird at the comment. "Shut up. Serena just couldn't handle all of this that's all." she says as she gestures towards herself.

"Point being, try to refrain from flirting with the new ADA. We want her to stay don't we?"

"I shall make no such promises. Plus, how come Alex is allowed to date her ADA when I can't even flirt with mine?! How is that even fair?!"

Casey winces and gnaws down nervously on her lower lip as she awkwardly glances down at her now wringing hands. "I broke up with Alex a couple days ago."

Abbie's eyes widen to the size of car tires and her jaw practically hits her desk. "You broke up with Alex?! Wait a sec…" she pauses as a thought crosses her mind. "You broke up with Alex and you didn't tell me?! Your _best friend_?! I thought that's what we do! Tell each other stuff like this!"

Casey shrugs nonchalantly and continues to examine her hands. "I didn't think about it. When I did it, it wasn't that big a deal. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love her, I really do, but I felt like it was what we needed at the time. I can't be in her backseat on everything Abbie…"

"You had no problem being in her backseat a week after you two started dating." Abbie says suggestively.

Rolling her eyes at Abbie's immaturity, Casey shakes her head once again. "Seriously. I just can't be backseat to everything. I'm not asking her to make me her number one priority in life, but I at least want to be number two, and even number two needs some attention! I can't function in a relationship of canceled dates or lonely nights, or waking up to a cold bed on weekends."

"C'mon Case, cut her some slack. You know how hard Alex works, and her dedication to her job."

"I understand that Abbie. I understand how much her job means to her and the good she does for people, and that's one of the reasons I love her so much. I just…I can't do it Abbie. I've never been the solid foundation in a relationship, and I need her to be there, and she just can't do that…"

Abbie hums and leans back in her chair as she contemplates everything Casey has just told her. While she wishes that she could agree with the redhead, she can't help but feel like Casey went through far too drastic measures to fix the problem. "I dunno Case, I still think that you should've given her a chance to explain. I mean, she must be heartbroken…"

Casey winces again as she remembers seeing the look on Alex's face when she told the blonde that she was breaking up with her. It was a look that she's never seen before; a look that consisted of wide, watery blue eyes resembling that of an innocent child. It was a look of confusion and anguish all mixed into one, and had Casey's reasons for breaking up with Alex been different, she's sure she herself would've burst into tears upon seeing that look.

"She looked…so different…" she whispers, slightly ashamed for being the one to tear down the great Alexandra Cabot's walls and basically crush them under her feet like they were made of popsicle sticks. "It's almost as if I didn't know who she was anymore. After I told her to leave I just couldn-"

"You broke up with her, and you kicked her out? Good god Casey…why didn't you just tell the woman everything that's wrong with her and then send her heart to her via UPS?" Abbie exclaims in total shock at Casey's tendency to be a little ruthless.

"Well thanks for making me feel the love Abbie…I already feel like a huge ass as it is, but trust me, it's for the better." The redhead responds with another shrug.

Abbie opens her mouth to respond but is interrupted by a knock at her door. She calls out a kick come in, and both she and Casey stand from their chairs upon seeing Liz enter the room with what is assumed to be the new ADA.

"Abigail, meet your new ADA." Liz says cautiously introducing the two.

The brunette woman that walked in with Liz smiles and extends her hand towards Abbie. "Kim Greyleck." She says politely introducing herself.

"Abbie Carmichael." Abbie responds smiling widely as she shakes Kim's hand, and lingers in the handshake probably a lot longer than she should have seeing as she hasn't exactly let go yet.

Casey rolls her eyes upon seeing exactly what her best friend is trying to do and she seizes the opportunity to put an intend to whatever this is before it can get started. "And I'm Casey Novak. I work in Special Victims." She states, holding out her hand to the new ADA, prompting an end to Abbie's far-too-long handshake.

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you." Kim says nicely, giving Abbie a lightly curious look before it's gone in a flash. "I look forward to working with you."

"Mmmm likewise," Abbie purrs, earning yet another eye roll from Casey.

Liz looks between the two before she shakes her head and interjects into whatever silent conversation is taking place. "Right well…I'm going to show Miss Greyleck her new office." She says before fixing the two veterans with a stern look. "You two stay out of trouble."

Abbie stands up straight and gives Liz a firm salute. "Yes Ma'am!" she states firmly, rolling her eyes when their boss exits her office with the new eye candy. She chuckles to herself and then realizes that Casey is looking at her while shaking her head in total disapproval.

"Hey, I said I shall make no such promises."

**The Next Day **

"You had sex with a twenty seven year old!?" Serena exclaims as she watches Alex pace the length of her office. "It's been a few days Alex! When were you gonna tell me, your best friend, that you slept with a child!"

Alex freezes and glares at Serena, a glare that is so hard, that Serena actually thinks she's about to spontaneously combust under it. "Serena she was not a child! She was twenty seven not eighteen! And I was…probably a little bit drunk at the time, and she came on to me. I wasn't thinking. It was stupid."

"Damn right it was stupid…she was twenty seven!"

"Serena it's not like I am fifty! Hell, I'm not even forty! Stop making it seem like I'm a pedophile!"

Serena huffs and folds her arms as she shakes her head again, her eyes still wide in shock. "I'm sorry! You just never pegged me as someone to rob the cradle. Please don't make a habit out of this alright? Twenty year olds can be trouble."

Alex sighs heavily before she leans against the edge of her desk. "I don't plan on it. It was stupid, and the night that Casey broke up with me. I just needed to feel something at the time I guess."

"Have you tried talking to Casey at all? She seems like she can be very understanding."

"Yeah, very understanding by barely even casting a glance in my direction. I've never felt more like a love sick teenager. I don't want to be following her around like a lost puppy but I can't help it. I love her."

"Aw sweetie, I'm so sorry." Serena coos giving Alex a hug. "It'll be okay, I promise."

Alex sighs again and hugs her best friend back, seeking the comfort of having someone who cares for the time being. "Thanks Rena, I love you so much."

Serena pulls away and chuckles. "I know. And you know what else? You'd be completely lost with out me."

Alex swats at Serena's shoulder and rolls her eyes. She opens her mouth to say something, but is cut off by someone knocking on her office door. Narrowing her eyes, Alex walks away from Serena and opens the door to two people, a man and a woman, standing at her office door in suits with stony expressions. "Uh, can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Agent Todd, and this is Agent Rivers." The woman speaks up with a straight face. "We're looking for Alexandra Cabot."

"Um, uh, yeah that's me." Alex states curiously, eyeing the two agents who glance between each other in silent conversation.

Agent Todd gives a curt nod to her partner before she slips into the office behind Alex. "Alexandra Cabot, you're under arrest for the rape and murder of Rachel Givens." The agent says as she slides the cold handcuffs around the petrified attorney's wrists. "You have the right you remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you…"

**Well, you guys DID say that you didn't like Rachel. Hehehehe. I know, I know, this looks bad. It'll get better…eventually. Leave your feedback? **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Well this came out longer than I thought…and I got it done quicker than I thought too. Huh, weird. Anyway, happy readings!**

"Ma'am, we're going to need you to step out of the office, we have a warrant to search the area." Agent Rivers states, speaking to Serena as his partner leads Alex down the hall and to the elevator.

Serena nods numbly and steps to the side watching the agent and now a few others proceed into Alex's office to search for whatever they need to. Her mouth hands open in complete shock before something clicks in her brain, and she dashes off down the hall as fast as she can, despite her nearly six inch shoes.

"I'm sorry, excuse me, sorry…" she mutters to every person she passes as her heels click rapidly against the floor and she rounds one last corner, quickly bursting into Casey's office, rejoicing when she sees both Abbie and Casey sitting there.

Casey frowns upon seeing the panting blonde in her doorway, and she tilts her head to the side in confusion. "Serena, what're you…"

"No time for talking. You two need to come, now." Serena says urgently, her tone stating that there is no time for waiting. "NOW."

The other two attorneys quickly remove themselves from their chairs and damn near have to run to keep up with Serena's fast pace down the hall. As they come to the elevator Serena shakes her head, and bolts for the stairwell door in which Abbie groans in protest as they make their decent.

"The day I wear my GOOD high heels, is the day that you take me down the stairs. You got somethin' against me Southerlyn?" The brunette groans as they make the seemingly impossible six flight decent down to the main lobby.

"Abbie, shut up, this is serious." Serena pants as she bursts through the stairwell door to the lobby with the two panting women not too far behind.

Upon entering the lobby, Casey can't help but wonder why there seems to be an exceptional amount of people just standing around murmuring to each other. She is about to open her mouth and question what's going on that's drawing do much attention, when she catches the sight of what looks like a Fed, leading Alex out of the elevator in handcuffs. "Serena, what the hell is going on?!"

Serena shakes her head vigorously, having to raise her voice level as the murmurs around them seem to increase. "I don't know! We were just sitting in her office, when they showed up and arrested her! Oh god, what are we supposed to do!"

"What the hell is this…Alex!" Casey shouts, getting the attention of the blonde through the crowd.

Alex's head snaps up at her name being called, and she catches a glimpse of her friends (and girlfriend? ex girlfriend? she doesn't know) standing there with questionable looks across their faces. "I-I don't know what's happening! They're taking me to the precinct, please one of you do something!"

"What is it that we _can_ do?" Abbie asks curiously, for once her tone completely lacking any kind of sarcasm and cynicism.

"I don't know what we can do." Serena whimpers at the sight of seeing her best friend being led away in handcuffs. "Oh god, you guys, she can't go to jail, look at her! We have to do something!"

**1-6 Precinct; Manhattan, NY **

Alex keeps her head down as she is led through the precinct. She can feel the eyes of nearly everyone boring in to her, and she knows fairly well that all of this is pretty much out of the detectives' hands. As much as she would like for one of them to do something about all of this, she knows they can't. All they can pretty much do is watch.

The door to the interrogation room opens, and she finds herself being seated at the table as the agent removes her hand cuffs. She stares at the table blankly as the door to the room closes yet again, leaving her alone with only her thoughts, and the one way mirror that she's use to being on the other side of.

"I refuse to go in there and interrogated my own ADA." Amanda states shaking her head in disapproval from the other side of the mirror. "It's just not happening."

"Agent Todd, I must inform you now that neither me, nor the rest of the detectives are going to interrogate her. It's bad enough that we're being forced on this case." Olivia explains, giving the agent a firm glare.

Agent Todd nods her head as she flips through the folder that she has in her hand. "Detective, please. I understand your worries and concerns, and to be honest with you, I don't like it either. I find it hard to believe that an EADA for the Special Victims Unit is capable of such a heinous crime, but unfortunately, I have to do my job and my job is to treat everyone with equality regardless of their occupation. Just know that _someone_ has to conduct the interrogation, whether it is you, me, or anyone else. It has to happen."

Olivia sighs heavily and turns back to the window where she looks in where she sees Alex with her elbows propped on the table, and her head resting in her hands. She knows for a fact that she isn't going to do the interrogation, and she also knows that neither are the rest of the detectives. It'd be too hard, and it's too personal. She has no choice but to morally leave it into the hands of the agent.

"We'll stand here and observe." She murmurs after a long moment of silence, holding up her hand in a motion of silence when Amanda opens her mouth to protest.

Agent Todd nods her head before she proceeds back into the interrogation room with the panicked attorney. As much as she hates it, Shannon Todd knows that she does in fact have a job to do, despite what this woman's job is.

She sits down in the chair across the table, and places the folder on the table before opening it to produce on of the many pictures on the inside. Sliding the picture across the table, she waits for a moment before beginning. "Do you know this girl?"

Alex lifts her head from her hands and looks down at the picture of the girl that she left the bar with. She leans back in her chair and nods her head after a moment of silence. "I met her yes."

"Where'd you meet her?" the agent pushes on, her tone low and void of any possible emotion.

"We met in a bar a few days ago. I was having a drink and she approached me. We chatted for a little while, and after that we wound up back in her hotel room." Alex explains simply as it happened.

Shannon pauses for a moment before she folds her hands on the table. "Is that when you raped her and killed her?"

Alex's eyes widen at the once again completely absurd accusation. She shakes her head as she feels her heart rate increase. "I didn't rape anyone. And I most certainly didn't kill her."

"Then how do you explain your DNA everywhere? Only _YOUR_ DNA was found at the scene. Nothing else."

"We had sex! We left the bar, went back to her room, and we had sex. Everything that we did was completely consensual. What evidence do you have that I raped her?"

"The fact that she is covered in your DNA. The fact that she was last seen leaving with you, and the fact that you were seen leaving her hotel room the next morning." the agents states flatly as if everything is that obvious.

Alex folds her arms and shakes her head. It seems like in just less than a week everything has gone from bad to worse with her. The love of her life left her, and now she is being accused of a crime that she couldn't even dream of committing. "I didn't rape her. I did not rape her, and I did not kill her."

Shannon chuckles humorlessly before pulling out another picture, this time at what looks like a bloody knife. "Yeah well, it's your word against the forensics. We did some more searching, and found this under the bed. This is the same knife that was used to kill Rachel Givens and your prints are on that as well. Explain all that."

"I cannot explain to you why or how my finger prints are on that knife, but I swear to you that I did not kill that girl." Alex repeats for what she feels like is probably the thousandth time. "I am an ADA for the Special Victims Unit, a unit that deals with these types of crimes. Why would I do something like this and commit one myself?!"

"You tell me. Maybe because you thought that you wouldn't get caught? With your so called 'job' that no one would ever suspect that you were capable of something like this? Tell me something; is going out and taking advantage of unsuspecting young women what gets you off? Is that what makes you feel good about yourself, maybe even help you sleep at night? Maybe when she was begging for you to stop, you didn't, simply because you just knew that you were going to be able to get away with this?"

Alex sits back in her chair and crosses her arms firmly across her chest, about to speak the phrase that she and the detectives hate hearing so much on a daily basis. "I want a lawyer."

**District Attorney's Office of Manhattan **

Casey swears loudly in the confines of her own office as she paces back and forth repeatedly, her heels clacking angrily against the hardwood flooring. After going down to the precinct, she found that there was very little that anyone could do or tell her, which only succeeded in pissing her off even more.

All she knows is that Alex is being accused of raping and killing some girl that she apparently left a bar with. Casey can't help but think that same night is the very day that she broke up with the blonde. If she hadn't broken up with Alex, then she wouldn't have felt the need to go out, drink herself to death, and then fuck with random people all through the night.

"Oh god, this is my fault…" Casey groans as she rakes her fingers through her hair. She continues on with her pacing and is nearly scared halfway out of her mind by someone knocking on the open door of her office. Glancing upward, she is met with the nervous looking face of Cindy, Liz's secretary.

"Um, Miss Donnelley wanted me to give you this…" the young brunette says handing over the file.

Casey all but snatches the file away, startling the assistant even more. She narrows her eyes as she flips it open, and her questioning look turns into a deep frown as she reads over the case. Not even bothering to give Cindy a second glance, Casey storms out of her office, in a complete beeline for Liz's.

Once there, she forcefully throws the door open and slams it behind her, all but throwing the file at her boss in sheer anger. "I will not do this."

Liz matches Casey's glare with one of her own and stands from her chair, placing her hands on her desk as she leans over to glare at her rogue ADA. "It is your job. You are the assistant district attorney for the Special Victims Unit, and this is a Special Victims Unit case. And you will over look the fact that this could be seen as a personal problem for you. The judge doesn't care, the jury doesn't care, and frankly, I don't care."

"Damnit Liz, you know good and well that Alex didn't do this!"

"I know that as well as the next person, but unfortunately with your job and mine, we are not allowed to assume, despite who they are, whether it be one of our own or a random stranger. It. Doesn't. Matter."

Casey shakes her head, and firmly crosses her arms across her chest. "Then I refuse to prosecute this case. I know she's innocent, and I'm not going to stand up there and try to convince a panel of twelve jurors otherwise."

Liz narrows her eyes and purses her lips into a thin line. "Fine, then I am suspending you _AND_ your law license for subordination and noncompliance. Give me your ADA badge."

Casey's eyes widen and her mouth falls agape at the command. Yes she had assumed that Liz would be upset with her, but not upset to the point where she would suspend her. "Liz, you cannot be serio-"

"**Your badge**, Miss Novak." The DA says firmly, glaring holes into the redhead.

Casey sighs and unclips her work badge from her blazer before handing it over to her boss. Not only has she just been thrown off of a case for the first time, but she's been temporarily thrown out of her job as well.

"Now I suggest that you leave on your own account before I have security come up and drag you out." Liz says darkly.

Casey holds up her hands in defeat and waits until her back is turned to Liz before she rolls her eyes and storms back down the hall to get her stuff out of her office.

"Miss Donnelley, do you need anything else?" Cindy asks carefully, making sure that the heated dispute is over with before she fully steps into the office.

Liz folds her arms as she thinks for a moment. The office is now down two prosecutors leaving an entire unit vacant and exposed. She knows that she needs a replacement, and she has little time to get one. One person comes to mind, and she prays that she isn't going to regret the decision in the long run. "Cindy, send Miss Carmichael to my office. Tell her it's urgent."

Cindy nods her head shakily and disappears out of the doorway. Minutes later, she returns with the lean brunette in tow and closes the door behind them, giving the two the privacy that they need.

"Uh, you needed to see me?" Abbie asks curiously, deciding against sitting down in front of the DA.

Liz hums for a moment before she motions towards the file laying on her desk. "I have a case for you."

Narrowing her eyes in confusion, Abbie reaches down and picks up the case. "Liz this is an SVU case, why are you…" she pauses as she realizes just what exactly she's been handed. "You want me to prosecute this? Liz, this shouldn't even be our jurisdiction! I can't convict one of our own."

"The law says that you can, and you will. As much as I hate this, and believe me, I hate it, I refuse to defile the name of this DA's office by letting this go to the dogs and get shot to hell." Liz pauses before her tone softens a bit, but only a bit. "You've worked SVU cases before, and this one shall be no different. And I know fairly well that your load is light right now, and you have two ADAs. There is nothing that's stopping you from prosecuting this case."

"And if I don't do it?" Abbie questions carefully.

"Then you're fired." Liz says curtly and flatly, leaving absolutely no room for argument.

Abbie looks down at the file in her hand and shakes her head. "When's the arraignment hearing…"

"You have a weeks time in preparation."

**DUN. DUN. DUN. I told you guys that this was gonna be a heated story. And it's only just the third chapter! Lol, you guys STILL don't like Rachel huh? Lol, leave your feedback!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I think this chapter answers some of your guys' questions. And let this just be clear…this wouldn't be as interesting to write if I had to abide by that whole 'conflict of interest' rule so…I think I've sorta disregarded that in a sense. Anyway, happy readings!**

**Court of Judge Lena Petrovsky **

Alex stares intently at the polished wood table before her. Never once in her life has she ever thought that she would be sitting on the wrong side of the room, the defense side of the room, but nevertheless, there she is, sitting there staring a hole into the table in front of her. She can feel the eyes of everyone around her boring holes into her as if to say 'what has this world come to'. With the looks that she knows she's getting, Alex half expects some of them to turn up their noses and scoff in disapproval.

Alex swallows the thick lump in her throat and lets out a breath that comes out as a cross between a wheeze and a gasp. The sound itself draws the attention of her lawyer, Natalie Brennan, who looks upon her with a mixture of worry and concern.

"Alex, are you alright?" the dark haired woman asks curiously, her voice displaying a general concern for her client's emotional well being at the time.

With a shaky head nod, Alex keeps her stare angled at the table for fear of looking up and looking the glare of anyone else in the room. "I-I'm fine…I'm just…to be honest I'm terrified. Nat please tell me you understand that I didn't do this?"

"I understand that clearly Alex, it's just we're going to have to convince everyone else that you didn't do this." Natalie explains before murmuring to herself. "I'm just curious to see how the prosecution is going to handle this case."

Alex snorts humorlessly and rests her head in her hands looking completely and utterly defeated. "If anything Casey is going to be unhappy about handling this case. Even if we are broken up, I'm sure she'll still feel like it's too personal. I would typically expect her to be all over the place. Unless she really is intending to drive the stake in even further by sending me to jail after she's broken up with me."

The defense attorney smiles sadly and rests her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Casey is a sweetheart, and even if the two of you are having problems, I am sure that is one of the last things that she would ever consider doing."

With a heavy sigh, Alex nods her head and returns to resting her head in her hands as they wait for her arraignment hearing to begin. If anything, the last thing that she would want to do is stand under the powerful gaze of Lena Petrovsky. Of all of the judges in the city, her case just HAD to fall into Petrovsky's lap. If Alex didn't feel like the world was out to get her before, she most definitely does now.

Natalie continues to gently rub soothing circles on the blonde's back in an attempt to calm her down. She briefly casts her gaze over to the prosecution table, and what she sees brings a small confused frown upon her face. "I thought this fell as an SVU case…" she wonders, thinking out loud again.

"It _is_ an SVU case." Alex mumbles still not bringing her head out of her personal cocoon.

"Then why is homicide's head prosecutor at the prosecution table…?"

At this, Alex's head snaps up, and she leans across the table to get a clear look at the other side of the room. Her mouth falls open as her eyes fall on a very unhappy looking Abbie, cycling through papers that are spread across the table.

"Oh god, I'm going to jail…" she groans, this time forgoing her hands, and deciding to just plop her head on the table directly.

"Alex, don't say that." Natalie says disapprovingly, "I'm sure that a change in prosecution is going to do nothing to-"

"No Nat, you don't understand. I am _GOING_ to jail. That woman over there is a no bullshit lawyer, okay? And when I say no bullshit, I mean when she requests for remand, she typically gets it, no if ands or buts. It's like she has this Jekyll and Hyde syndrome. If you knew her outside of court like I do, you wouldn't believe that that same person is the hard ass that you are about to go up against. Now this brings me back to my first statement: I am going to jail."

Meanwhile over at the prosecution table, Abbie refrains from even glancing over at the defense side of the courtroom. Too many things are at stake dealing with this case, and she feels like she's playing with an open flame in a run down gas station. Alex is one of her closet friends, and the blonde's fate, rests entirely in her hands.

If anything, Abbie knows that Alex is completely incapable of committing such a crime, but unfortunately, her job requires for her to believe and prove otherwise. The position that she finds herself thrown in is completely and utterly hand tying. Does she want to send Alex to prison? Absolutely not, in fact, that's probably the last thing she wants to do, but at the same time, she doesn't want to lose her job either. She CAN'T lose her job.

"Is the prosecution ready?" the judge asks as she peers at the attorney's over her glasses from the bench.

"Ready your honor." Abbie replies flawlessly as she shifts her mood into ADA Carmichael mode.

"Is the defense ready?"

"Ready your honor."

Lena leans back in her chair and heaves a silent sigh as she reads over the file in front of her. She's trying not to let her surprise and worry show on her face, and she personally thinks that she's doing a very good job of it. "Right, then we shall get started." She states before she adjusts her glasses and clears her throat. "Alexandra Cabot has been arrested on the chargers rape and murder to the first degree on the date of November 31st at approximately 12: 02 pm according to the police report. How do you plead Miss Cabot?"

Alex has been spacing out for probably the last five minutes that it startled her when Natalie nudges her in the ribs letting her know that she has to speak up for herself. "Not guilty your honor." She states, but not as strong as she wishes it would come out. She quickly averts her gaze back to the table in order to keep from having to hold gazes with the judge.

"Not guilty." The judge repeats quietly to herself before she clears her throat once more out of nervous happen. Why is she nervous? She's the judge for Pete's sake; she has no reason to be nervous! "Right, Miss Carmichael, you may proceed."

No response.

"Miss Carmichael?"

Still no response.

"ABIGAIL!"

Abbie jumps from her thoughts at hearing her full name being echoed through the courtroom. She shakes away the cobweb of thoughts from her head as she draws her attention back to the hearing. "I apologize, your honor…" she murmurs quietly, feeling like a little kid that's been caught stealing from the cookie jar before dinner time.

"I highly suggest that you pay attention on my court, unless you have somewhere else that you would rather be?" the judge questions with raised eyebrows.

"No your honor, I'll pay attention."

"Excellent. You may proceed."

Abbie purses her lips and internally heaves a heavy sigh. '_Here goes nothing…' _"Your honor, on the night of November 28th, a horribly heinous crime was committed by the defendant. A young woman was found in the bathroom of her hotel room stabbed repeatedly. The last person that was seen with leaving with the victim was the defendant, who was also the last person to be seen leaving Miss Givens' hotel room by a maid, who later entered the room and found Miss Given's murdered the bathtub of her hotel room."

"Your honor, if I must interject, just because that my client was seen leaving the hotel, that does not necessarily mean that she had anything to do with Miss Givens' murder." Natalie states firmly, her statements set on pure intent on getting the prosecution to give up more evidence before the trial.

"It does however indicate that the defendant was present during the time of the murder, given the time span between Miss Cabot's arrival at the hotel, the murder, and her departure."

"That is purely speculation! If the prosecution was not present at the time of the murder, how can she speculate the times in which my client was present in Miss Givens' hotel room?"

Abbie growls in frustration, and if anything she wants to pop the head of the defense attorney in front of everyone in the courtroom. She most definitely is not one that favors defense attorneys, despite who they are. They just all around get on her nerves. Feeling like she's been backed into a corner, she resorts to other means to try and get the job done. "In addition to being seen with the victim, the defendant can be labeled as a flight risk due to her readily available assets."

Alex's eyes widen as she realizes that Abbie is trying to send her to jail. Granted, that is her job, but she doesn't always have to be so damn good at it! Oh god, she feels like she's gonna pass out.

"Also based off of speculation." Natalie speaks up, glaring at Abbie briefly before turning back to the judge. "JUST because my client has money, does not mean that she intends on doing such drastic thing as fleeing the jurisdiction."

Lena hums and stays silent for a moment before she picks up her gavel. "Both of you make very valid points, though I must deny Miss Carmichael's indirect request for remand. However, I do order that all of Miss Cabot's accounts and other personal finances be frozen to insinuate that she stay with in the jurisdiction. Bail is set at two million. You are dismissed." She states before banging the gavel dismissing the court.

Alex lets out a puff of air that is a cross between a relief and fear. She wasn't expecting to be let off with out bail, and having to pay bail would be fine, that is if she had access to her money, which she no longer does. She sighs again, and watches as Abbie gives her an extremely apologetic look before she exits the courtroom. Maybe jail won't be all that bad.

**Two Days Later **

Alex sits on the cold cement slab that passes for a bed with her knees drawn up to her chest and her back pressed firmly against the wall. She's cold, freezing even, but of course, jails don't offer bed sheets for fear that inmates would strangle themselves. So in turn, Alex has to rely on her own body heat to keep her warm, which really isn't doing much for her.

She stares at the bars on the little square that is supposed to be a window, and then turns to the bars of the cell. The cell is completely blank minus her, a commode, and the cement slab that is supposed to be a bed. God, what she would do if she had a book right now.

Sighing heavily, Alex tucks her head into the cocoon of her arms, and hugs her knees closer to herself in yet another effort to make warmth. Her head snaps up however when she hears keys jingling and footsteps approaching her cell.

Moments later, one of the guards appears in front of the cell as he inserts the keys into the little panel and pulls the bars open. "C'mon Cabot, time to go."

Alex reluctantly crawls out from her little huddle in the corner and carefully approaches the entrance of the cell where the guard is waiting for her. "W-where am I going?"

"Someone's paid your bail." He responds as he closes the cell and gives her a gentle shove in the direction to walk.

All the while she's being returned her clothes from two days prior, and she's being checked out, Alex cannot think of a single person that possesses two million dollars that would bail her out. It just doesn't make any kind of sense.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Alex narrows her eyes at the sudden onslaught of sunlight after being inside for two days straight. She has to blink several times to see if she's imagining things when she swears she sees Casey pacing the sidewalk.

"Casey!" the blonde shouts as she startles the woman by rushing her and wrapping her arms tightly around her neck. "Oh my god Casey…"

"Ooof, good…to see you too." Casey chokes out through the death squeeze that she's getting.

Alex pulls away and tears of joy yet fear line her eyes. "Oh my god Casey, all of this is just horrible; please tell me that you know I didn't do this. Please!"

"Alex, calm down. Of course I know that you didn't do this…I believe that you are totally innocent, and we're going to fix all of this okay?" Casey says softly, gently stroking Alex's cheek with the back of her hand.

Alex nods her head and involuntarily leans into the touch. She has no idea what this means for them and their relationship, but right now, she's positive that she doesn't care. "How did you get two million dollars to get me out? All of my accounts are frozen…"

Casey winces upon the question that she prayed that wasn't going to be asked. "I…um…I didn't."

"What do you mean you didn't…?"

"I…Alex, please don't be mad. You were in jail, and I was panicking, and I didn't know what to do so I…"

"Alexandra." A calm, even voice injects into the rapidly tensing moment.

Alex frowns and pulls away from Casey, and her mouth falls open upon seeing a tall, sophisticated looking blonde with her arms folded and her eyebrows raised. Confusion is etched across Alex's face as she analyzes her sister, and wonders what the hell she's doing here.

"Melissa, what are you doing here?" she asks curiously. Alex and her sister almost never speak, and when they do it consists of Melissa tormenting her of how much better she is than Alex at well…everything. All in all, it could say that the sisters have a very venomous relationship, and they almost hate each other.

"Bailing my baby sister out of jail." Melissa responds with the same evenness as before.

A look of realization dawns on Alex's face and soon everything begins to slowly make sense. She turns towards Casey before roughly shoving herself out of the redhead's embrace.

"YOU CALLED MY SISTER?!"

**Too lazy to come up with a different name for Alex's sister this time so I just used the same one I did last time. Ta-da! Heheheheheh you guys STILL don't like Rachel. Even though she's dead? Oh well. Anyway, leave your feedback? **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Blah, I hate this chapter…I feel like it could've been SO much better and hopefully the next one will be. Hope you guys like it. **

"Casey I cannot believe that you called her!" Alex nearly shouts, which in turn causes the redhead to wince at her volume. "You know damn well that we don't speak!"

"Alex, I had to! You were in jail, and I didn't want you to have to just sit there!" Casey replies trying to calm the situation.

Melissa folds her arms and rolls her eyes at Alex's pettiness. "A simple 'thank you' would suffice, seeing I just spent two million of _my_ dollars to get _you_ out of jail."

"Oh? Was it to million of YOUR money, or was it two million of Mom's money?" Alex shoots back bitterly. "Because I can hardly believe that you of all people would use a good two million dollars to help anyone other than yourself."

At this Melissa scoffs and shakes her head. "You honestly believe that I would go to Mom and ask her for two million dollars for bail money? I wouldn't do that to her, trust me. I'd rather not cause our mother a heart attack because her daughter was thrown in lock up. If anything, she would freak out, and then give ME this huge speech on how YOU are setting a bad example for Lauren. I don't have time for that."

Alex narrows her eyes at the mention of their younger sister. Between Melissa and Lauren, Alex can hands down say that Lauren is her more favored sister. "Lauren is fifteen, it's a little late to be setting 'bad examples' that she isn't going to see in that snooty all girls private school she goes to. Nevertheless, I don't know why you're here because I don't need your money."

"Well obviously you did seeing as all of your financial assets are completely frozen. God, Mom really is going to have a heart attack when this reaches her."

"She's not going to know!"

Melissa snorts and shakes her head. "You're a Cabot sweetheart and word travels fast. She's going to find out."

"This isn't my fault! I haven't done anything!" Alex nearly shouts, her voice cracking on the tail end of her sentence.

Casey seizes this as the opportunity to interrupt the sisterly dispute. Before hand, with the way that they were going at it, she knew that it was best to just let it play out. Things probably would've ended up worse than they already are if she had interjected any sooner. "Alex, your sister only wants to help."

Alex narrows her eyes but doesn't take her steely gaze away from her sister. "Well I don't need her help. She hasn't offered it before, why should she would she offer it now. Let's go Casey."

"Alex, I really think that she only…"

"LET'S GO!" Alex shouts as she pushes past her sister and makes her own way to the parking lot.

Casey sighs and runs her fingers through her hair as she walks up to Melissa. "I'm really sorry about…her. I'm sure she's entirely grateful."

Melissa shakes her head and chuckles lowly. "Honey, I've been dealing with her far longer than you have. I'm well aware that I could save her from a burning building and she would still find away to be completely ungrateful for it. Ever since we were children she would completely dismiss the fact that she would ever need help from me. She's too vain. Take care of her Casey, she gets defensive like this when she's scared, and I can tell that she's terrified."

"Thank you so much for doing this even though I know you didn't really want to." Casey says solemnly.

"She's my sister. It probably would be considered inhumane if I just let her sit there. Like I said, take care of her." Melissa replies with a soft smile before heading off towards her car.

Casey sighs quietly as she makes her way to her own car where she finds Alex standing there with her arms folded tightly across her chest staring intently at the concrete. "It's open Alex…"

Alex's movements are rash and quick as she opens the passenger side door, gets in, and buckles her seatbelt before returning to her prior posture only in a seated position. She says nothing as Casey gets in the car, and looks at her as if she's expecting her to say something.

Eventually giving up, Casey shakes her head and pulls out of the parking lot with an intent on making it back to the city alive. After five minutes of silence, she can't take it anymore, and she tries to get Alex to speak. "Why are you and your sister so hostile towards each other?"

"It's always been that way, and it will most likely always be that way. We don't get along. I still can't believe you called her." the blonde says once again, shaking her head in disapproval.

"Who else was I supposed to go to for two million dollars? Pardon me Alex, but I don't have that kind of money, and neither does anyone else I can think of." Casey states firmly, her grip on the steering wheel tightening involuntarily. "I know it might just seem like pocket change to you, but two million dollars is a hell of a lot of money."

At this, Alex says nothing and she simply settles on staring out the window intently, staring out into the water as they drive across the bridge back into the city. "Still…I would have rather you just go to my mother rather than Melissa."

Casey briefly looks away from the road, and gives Alex a look of curiosity. "What is so bad about me calling her? She's your sister Alex."

"Yeah exactly, she's my sister. That's why I don't like it that you called her. We have never gotten along about anything, even as small children we would fight over the pettiest of things. It carried over into adult hood, and we have never liked each other, ever."

"But she's your sister…she bailed you out, the least you could've done is say thank you."

Alex scoffs and turns back to looking out the window. "Not when she's going to hold this over my head forever. Can we not talk about this any longer? It's not important."

Casey sighs and turns back to focusing on the road letting another slightly uncomfortable smile fall between them. "We're going back to my apartment."

"What? Why? Casey, I want to go home." the blonde exclaims staring at Casey in awe.

"Alex, it'll be safer for you that way. At least I will be at some piece of mind to know that you're safe."

"So now you care because I've been labeled as a murdering rapist, where as a week and a half ago, you threw me out because you were done with me…" Alex murmurs probably a little more bitter than intended.

Casey's heart sinks upon hearing Alex's statement. "Alex I'm sorry okay? I shouldn't have…if I hadn't have broke up with you, you probably wouldn't be in this mess."

"Let's just…not talk until we get back into the city?" Alex says shakily as if she's about to cry.

**Meanwhile…**

"Liv, I just don't understand how no one could've saw another person enter Rachel's hotel room." Amanda says exiting the bathroom in which she was looking around for anything the previous investigators might've missed.

Olivia shakes her head and folds her arms as she contemplates their next move. "I don't understand that either. Isn't it convenient how the night that Rachel is killed is the night that the hotel is getting their security feed rewired…it just doesn't make any sense. Some had to have known Alex was here that night."

Amanda narrows her eyes as she tries to think of where to go from here. "Hey, who was the one that found Rachel in the bath tube?"

"Uh, I think it was the maid, why?"

"We need to talk to that maid." The blonde says as she exits the hotel room that is still labeled as a crime scene.

The two detectives make their way down to the front lobby where they are able to locate the whereabouts of the maid that discovered the murder scene. They make their way back up to the floor they had already been on to find said maid, leaning out a vacant room.

"Um, Miss Garcia?" Olivia speaks up, slightly startling the maid who has just finished making one of the beds in the room. "I'm Detective Benson, and this is Detective Rollins. We're here to speak with you about the murder that occurred here."

The maid stares at Olivia for the longest of times before she shrugs her shoulders. "No Ingles" she explains in a heavy Hispanic accent.

"Great…she doesn't speak English." The elder detective groans, running her hand through her hair out of frustration.

Amanda sighs and moves Olivia to the side as she approaches the maid once again. "Uh, Senora, estamos aquí para hablar con usted sobre el asesinato que ocurrió aquí hace poco más de una semana."

The maid frowns upon seeing that one of the detectives can speak Spanish. "I've already spoken to the police." She replies in perfect English. "There's nothing more I can tell you that I haven't already said."

"Yes, we realize that, but my partner and I are just conducting our own, ah, private investigation of the incident. Can you tell us what you told the police that were here before?"

The maid sighs and sits on the unmade bed that she had just started working on. "I was going into the room to clean because I had assumed that she had left, since the note was not left on the door. I go into the room, I make up the bed, and I go into the bathroom to clean. I look, and I find girl sprawled out in bathtub bloodied and dead. I scream, and run out of the room. That same morning, I was cleaning another room when I see tall blonde leaving same hotel room with dead girl."

"Is this the woman that you saw?" Olivia asks handing the maid Alex's ID badge from the office.

"Yes, that's her. Is she the killer?" the woman asks curiously, handing the badge back to the detective.

The two detectives exchange glances before Amanda shakes her head and speaks up. "We don't believe so ma'am. And you're sure that you saw no one else enter and exit that room other than this woman and the woman that was found dead?" "

"I saw no one else. Just those two. It's such a shame. The girl was so young, looked like she still had a life ahead of her. You have to find her killer."

"We intend to ma'am, we intend to."

**Casey Novak's Apartment **

Alex sits curled up on Casey's sofa staring blankly at nothing, the same thing that she's been doing for the past twenty minutes. In fact, she's been so focused on staring into nothing, that she doesn't notice the couch dip next to her and the cup of tea that's been paced in front of her.

"Alex? You've been sitting like that ever since we got here." Casey says softly, startling the blonde from her thoughts.

Alex shakes her head and takes in a shaky deep breath. "Case, what if I go to prison?"

"Don't think like that. I promise you that all of this will be fixed."

"You can't promise that…what if I actually go to prison? I won't survive in prison. I'm a prosecutor and something tells me that inmates don't forget. Do you know what they would do to me in prison?"

Casey shakes her head and moves closer to Alex on the sofa. "You aren't going to go to prison Alex, and do you know why? You didn't do this."

Sighing heavily, Alex drops her head down into her hands and groans. "Abbie is the prosecuting attorney…"

A brief look of confusion flashes across Casey's face before she smacks her forehead in realization. "Oh my god, Liz…"

"Liz?"

"I-I…I've been suspended, Liz took my badge and everything. She handed me the case and I told her that I refused to try it simply because I refuse to lie to a jury and make you out to be a murderer. I couldn't do it, so she suspended me, and she must've handed the case to Abbie."

Alex's head shoots out of her hands and she looks upon Casey with pure shock. "You did that…for me?"

Casey shrugs and averts her gaze to her hands in her lap. "I know that you're innocent, and I wasn't about to try and convict you when I'm very well aware of the fact that you're innocent."

"Yeah, well, I'm seriously starting to question whether or not Abbie thinks I'm innocent. You should've seen her at my hearing..." Alex mumbles hugging her knees close to her.

"Abbie is…very dedicated to her job, and I can't even begin to imagine what Liz threatened her with. You understand that she's just doing her job…"

"Yeah well…she didn't have to request for remand…"

At this Casey shrugs nonchalantly. "She has a reputation to maintain."

Alex sighs heavily and rests her head against the back of the couch. "Well while she is maintaining her reputation, mine has been shot to hell. Casey I just…I just realized something. What if…what if I did do it?"

"Alex come on, be serious…"

"I am being serious! I really don't remember much about that night, and I was stone cold drunk. What if I did do it, and I just don't remember?" Alex whispers quietly shaking her head. "What if…what if I killed her?"

Casey scoots even closer on the couch and wraps her arms around the blonde tightly. "Sweetheart, you didn't do this, okay? You aren't a killer, and we all know it."

Alex heaves a shaky sigh and allows her head to rest on Casey's shoulder. "I sure hope so…"

**Uh oh, Alex is starting to doubt herself. That can't be good. And our two favorite detectives seemed to have decided to take matters into their own hands. Also, I do intend on having more appearances from Alex's sister, and who knows, maybe even her mother will show up. Leave your feedback? **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Damn, this came out longer than I expected it to! But I know how you guys like long chapters so I'm sure than none of you will complain. Hope you enjoy!**

"You look…comfortable." Kim inquires as she runs into Casey as she's getting out of the elevator. "Was there this thing called 'Casual Fridays' that no one informed me about?"

Casey chuckles and shakes her head as she shoves her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "No, no, nothing like that. I'm…not working. I've sort of been forced on extended leave."

"Oh…you've been suspended?" The ever so blunt yet observant brunette points out.

"Pretty much yeah." Casey sighs heavily as she walks with the new attorney through the office. "Liz wanted me to take the Cabot rape/murder case and I refused. So, as a result of that, I am hereby suspended."

Kim tilts her head to the side still trying to adjust to her new colleagues and everything that goes on around them. "Alex Cabot right? I think that I only met her a few times, so we never really got fully acquainted before…anyway, people tend to talk around her. Sometimes I feel like I'm working in one of those sleazy office buildings rather than the office of the district attorney. There are so many rumors flying around about her, I honestly couldn't even tell what happened. I only know bits in pieces."

Casey's shoulders slump as the two of them step into Kim's office to avoid any passersby who might have wandering ears. "When you saying flying around…I'm actually afraid to ask how bad the damage is."

The new attorney shrugs as she places her papers on the desk and begins to sort them into separate file folders. "I've heard several different stories. I've heard that Alex raped and killed a girl out of cold blood; I've heard that it was an act of self defense; I've heard that everything is just a publicity hoax. And that's just the general idea of everything. I've heard that the two of you USED to be a thing, but you broke it off because of this case."

"We were a thing, but I broke up with her before any of this started." Casey explains shaking her head. "I think if I hadn't broken up with her she wouldn't be in this mess to start with."

"Hey, don't blame yourself, there's no way that you could've known that all of this would happen. Where is she by the way?"

"She's…she decided to stay home. She's staying with me for a while, and she refuses to leave the confines of my apartment for fear of the media. I just decided to stop in…see how things are going seeing as my unit is technically vacant at the moment."

Kim hums as she briefly turns her attention back to her file sorting. "I see. Now it makes sense that Liz put Abbie on that case, since it fell into SVU but there isn't anyone there."

Casey sighs and combs her fingers through her hair before nodding. "Yeah. Everything's just so complicated right now. It must be really hard for Abbie to have taken this case. I know she wouldn't have done it if Liz didn't threaten her with something."

"Um, the blonde, what's her name?" Kim questions tilting her head to the side as she still tries to cycle through all of the people she's met in the past week or so as she tries to adjust to her new job.

"Serena?"

"Yeah, Serena. She's the one that told me that Abbie told her that Liz threatened to fire her if she didn't take the case. If you ask me, that's a one up from your whole suspension deal."

Casey sighs again as she stares at the wood panels of the hardwood floor. Once again, another thing that she feels like is her fault. If she had taken the case, then Liz wouldn't have threatened to fire Abbie. Which all takes Casey back to breaking up with Alex. If she hadn't broken up with Alex, Alex wouldn't have done something rash, she wouldn't have ended up in that hotel the night Rachel was killed, there would have been no case against her for Casey to refuse which in turn nearly cost her best friend her job. Everything is just her damn fault.

"You're blaming yourself again." Kim states, noticing how the redhead has suddenly fallen silent and how her face has screwed up into serious concentration. "You shouldn't do that.

"Yeah, I know, it just seems like everything is my fault." Casey explains with another sigh. "I just feel really bad for Abbie…"

Kim is silent for a moment as she finishes organizing the papers into their designated folder and stacking them in a neat pile on her desk. "Speaking of Abbie, do you want to go with me to take these to her? I kinda don't wanna go by myself."

At this Casey can't help but chuckle as they make their way back into the hall. _'I told Abbie that she'd scare her new ADA, but she just didn't listen. Btu then again, when does she ever listen to anything I say?' _"I'm almost afraid to ask what she's done to make you iffy about being alone with her."

"Oh it's nothing really, I just sorta came up with conclusion maybe she won't try to flirt with me today if you're there." The brunette explains with a shrug. "She seems to do that a lot. And every time I leave her office, I have to resist the urge to walk backwards because I know that she's checking me out. Its amusing most of the time, but other times I think it's kinda unprofessional. For an amazing attorney as she is, the last thing that I would expect her to do is flirt with her ADAs."

"Oh please, you get used to it eventually." Casey says with a snicker poorly hidden in her tone. "Are you interested?" she adds on, a well place smirk spreading across her lips when she sees the slightest blush beginning to creep it's way up the new attorney's neck.

Kim feels her face grow hot and she shakes away the uncomfortable feeling. She is Kim Greyleck, and Kim Greyleck most definitely does NOT blush. "In Abbie? I dunno…maybe a little." She concludes with a mumbles. _'WHOA, where did THAT come from!?'_ she thinks to herself just as soon as the words leave her mouth.

Casey has to resist the urge to burst out into laughter simply because she doesn't want to embarrass Kim even further, but mostly because they've just rounded the corner and stepped into Abbie's office. Ah, what fun it is to mess with the newbie, kinda reminds her of high school.

Upon stepping into the office, the two women can't help but notice the brunette attorney hunched over her desk, gripping her pen tightly in her slightly trembling hand as she stares intently into the numerous upon numerous papers spread out across her desk. They stand there watching her for a moment before they come to the realization that she probably isn't even aware of their presence.

"Abbie?" Casey speaks up, trying to gain the attention of her best friend but to no avail. With a quiet sigh, she advances around the desk and roughly pokes the brunette in the neck. "Abbie!"

Abbie's hand flies up and ends up smacking Casey in the face out of reflex. The whole thing looks like something out of a cartoon, and it takes everything in Kim not to fall over with laughter, but ever the more determined to stick to her personality, she settles on placing her hand over her mouth to hide her slight smile.

"Jesus Abbie!" Casey exclaims covering her eye. "Shit, that hurt!"

"Sorry, sorry," Abbie apologizes sighing heavily as she sets down her pen before she ends up accidentally stabbing someone. "I didn't mean to hit you, you just scared me."

"Yeah, I see that!" Casey all but shouts, her hand still covering her eye. "Owww…."

Kim clears her throat as she retains her composure and places the stack of papers on Abbie's desk. "I know that you said you needed these yesterday but the copier wasn't working…sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Abbie replies with a smile showing off her whitened teeth.

The gesture causes Casey to roll her one good eye and she makes a silent gagging noise. "Gee, she must really like you. If it were anybody else she would've had their ass for not getting it to her the day before she asked for it."

"And now Miss Novak will proceed to shut up." Abbie says spinning in her chair to give her best friend a look that says 'really, way to cramp my style'.

Casey simply responds with a shrug that clearly says 'hey, I deserve some retribution. You hit me in the eye'.

Kim notices the silent exchange between the two best friends and she once again clears her throat. She's finding that she tends to do that a lot when she's nervous. "That's all that I really needed. I think I'm just gonna…go…" she explains pointing in that general direction before she spins on her heel and leaves.

Casey rolls her eyes again, and smacks her best friend upside the head upon seeing her in fact check out the new attorney. "Abbie, leave the newbie alone, she already knows that you stare at her ass."

"I can't help it if it's there asking to be stared at." Abbie exclaims before she leans back in her chair and sighs. "What're you doing here? Thought Liz suspended you…"

"Yeah, she did, I just came to stop by to see you when I ran into Kim. How're you holding up?"

"I feel like a ruthless bitch that's trying to throw an innocent woman in jail. But being the prosecutor, it's my job to think she's guilty even though my conscience is telling me otherwise. Hell, it's my job to prove that she is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. And I can't just throw the case, Liz is practically watching me under a microscope; she'll know." Abbie concludes with a heavy groan before she rests her head in her hands. "Fuck, this is just so hard, Case. I'm between a rock and a hard place, and this literally is a lose-lose situation. To everyone who believes that Alex did this, it is expected of me to put her away with all the other scum we deal with daily, but on the other hand, everyone who KNOWS she is innocent looks at me as the hard ass bitch who is trying to ruin a woman's life AND career. I don't know how I can do this…"

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. Alex knows fairly well that you're doing you're job, and she respects you for that, because truth be told, she would probably do the same thing if she were in your position."

Abbie sighs and squeezes her eyes shut as she feels an on coming headache radiating through her skull. "I know, I know, I just-I don't want to end up making the wrong decision."

"Trust me Abbs, none of us do. Like I said, we know you're only doing you're job, and we respect that."

"Good, because I might need you to take the stand."

**Meanwhile…**

Alex couldn't fight the urge to leave Casey's apartment to venture back to her own to get some things. As much as she wanted to, she just couldn't stay locked up for ever. Besides, all she did was make her way back to her home to get some things, and she would be right back to Casey's.

As soon as she stepped into the lobby of her complex, she received a very worried look from the young girl that worked at the front desk. The girl couldn't be more than twenty six at the latest, and she eyed Alex with uncertainty as soon as the blonde stepped through the door.

Alex couldn't help the tightness constricting in her throat as she walked through the lobby and made her way to the elevator. She wraps her arms around herself and rushes into the lift as soon as it appears. The ride up to her apartment is agonizing and it feels like it's taking more than necessary. In fact, she finds herself nearly tearing the door off when she actually does make it to her floor.

Closing the door to her apartment behind her, Alex inhales the familiar smell that she likes to call home. Slinking through the living room, she decides to collapse onto the couch for a while, in revel in the moment of peace that she has.

How is it her life can be fine and perfect one moment and then the next, everything just goes entirely wrong? The love of her life, and her reason for even waking up in the morning decides that they no longer fit together, and then she's labeled as a criminal. What has she ever done to deserve this?

But then her thoughts travel back to the thoughts and the nightmares that she's had over the past few nights. What if she really did commit the crime; and she just doesn't remember? Granted, she was highly intoxicated at the time, and to be honest, she can't really say that she remembers what happened. Vaguely does she remember slightly coming to her senses, realizing that what she was doing was inappropriate and an all around bad idea, but then Rachel had done something to convince her otherwise, and there she was again, back in that dark abyss drowned in alcohol and sorrowful pity. God, when did she become so pathetic?

Alex is disturbed from her musings by a soft knock on her front door. With a groan, she prays that the media frenzy hasn't started and is already resorting to people showing up at home for some statement or interview. Quiet as kept, Alex would be lying to herself if she said that she wasn't terrified to look at a newspaper.

With another audible sigh, she makes her way to the front door and glances through the peephole to see the identity of her visitor. She pulls away with a very confused frown and she quickly undoes the locks and swings the door open to her guest. "Lauren?"

Fifteen year old Lauren Cabot stands outside of her sister's apartment with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, slightly shivering from the dropped temperatures outside despite her jacket that she's thrown on over a sweater that probably costs more than one of the detective's jobs after a full year of pay.

Physically wise, the girl is tall for her age, and rather thin, resembling her two older sisters perfectly. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail and her steely blue eyes light up upon seeing her older sister. Obviously their mother carries strong genes because it has been said that all three of the Cabot sisters look the same.

Alex shakes herself away from the shock and steps to the side as she allows her sister to enter her apartment. With a concerned frown on her face, she follows the teen into the living room and begins her series of questions. "Lauren, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come and see you." Lauren explains with a shrug as if it's most obvious thing in the world before her face falls into a slightly saddened expression. "I wanted to come see you, but Mom said that I couldn't then we had this big argument about it. I really don't want to repeat any of the awful things that she said, but they were pretty bad."

Alex slightly feels like the stake that has already been driven into her heart has just been twisted in even further upon hearing that even her own mother doesn't want to have anything to do with her. "What did you…how did you get here?"

"I snuck out." Lauren explains, quickly cutting off her sister when she sees her about to interject. "Don't worry I left Mom a note. She'll find it so hopefully she won't freak out or whatever. Anyway, I snuck out and road the bus as close as I could, then I just walked the rest of the way. I didn't want to use any of the drivers because I knew they'd tell Mom about where I was going."

"Lauren, you shouldn't have done that. You're just a fifteen year old girl, and it's dangerous out there." Alex scolds lightly, her heart warming at the lengths her sister had taken to come and see her, but clenching at the thought of something happening to Lauren at her expense.

The youngest Cabot simply shrugs and takes it upon herself to make herself comfortable on Alex's sofa. "I knew that I'd be fine. I tried to call Melissa and see if she could bring me, but she didn't pick up, so I assumed she was busy."

Alex rolls her eyes at the mention of their elder sister. Truth be told, she's glad that Melissa didn't answer Lauren's phone call. The last thing that she wanted was another lecture. "Good, I don't want her here."

"Why? She bailed you out of jail…" the teen questions curiously, wondering about the hostility between her two older sisters. "If anything, I thought you'd be ecstatic to have her around?"

"Well I'm not okay?!" Alex snaps, recoiling when she sees that she's taken Lauren off guard with her biting and bitter tone. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to snap at you. I just don't want to talk about Melissa. But anyway, why did you feel the need to come and see me? Frankly if anything, I assumed you'd be afraid of me."

Lauren shakes her head and gives Alex a look of curiosity. "Why would I be afraid of you? I know that you didn't do those horrible things that people say you did."

"I'm sure that's a lot of people to disagree with…" Alex murmurs, averting her gaze to her hands.

With a sigh, the younger blonde nods her head as her face falls into sadness once again. "Yeah, I don't understand why people have to say such terrible things. A lot of the girls at school won't talk to me now after all of this came out. I won't repeat any of the things they say either. I'm too embarrassed, and I don't want you to hear them…" she murmurs sadly.

Alex's mouth falls slightly agape as she hears that her sister is having problems at school because of her mess. "Lauren, I'm so sorry. I-I don't know what to say…"

"It's not your fault. I know that it doesn't matter, and I shouldn't listen to them. That doesn't stop it from hurting though." Lauren pauses as she heaves a heavy sigh and wraps her arms around herself. "I just wish that Mom would see past all of this media frenzy stuff."

"She's probably too ashamed to recognize me as her daughter anymore…" the elder blonde mutters, knowing that is most likely what the problem is.

Lauren knows this as well and she simply settles on not responding to Alex's comment. She sighs again, and takes her sister's hand in her own. "I know that you're innocent Ali, and even though all of this is going on, that doesn't mean that I don't love you any less than I already did."

Alex finds tears lining her eyes as she pulls her sister into a hug. She closes her eyes as her tears fall and she feels Lauren returning the embrace. If a fifteen year old girl can believe that she's innocent, why can't all of the New York State law enforcement believe that as well?

**Oh my gosh, Lauren is such a sweetheart! Hope you all enjoyed that teensy beensy bit of comic relief I added at the beginning of this chapter. This story could use some funny every now and again, lol. Leave your feedback? **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: In retribution for me not posting yesterday, here is a super duper long chapter for you guys. Hope you all enjoy it. **

Casey stares blankly at her best friend for the longest of moments before she looks away shaking her head in disapproval. "Well then I just can't do that, and you know why. I already said that I wouldn't prosecute this case, I don't know why agreeing to testifying would be any different from that."

Abbie sighs and rubs her tired eyes out of irritation. "Casey, I'm trying to be nice about this."

"So am I." Casey responds tersely. "I realize that you have to do your job, but I don't think that this is necessary."

"I'm have to treat this case just like I would treat any other case Casey and you know that. I'm not going to be biased on this because as much as I want to, I can't. I can't afford to." Abbie explains rationalizing her actions.

Once again Casey shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "This can be avoided and you know that."

"Look at it this way, what if this was your case, and it was just another everyday perp that you have never met before. What would you do?"

"I would try to win the case, but that doesn't-this isn't the same Abbie!"

Abbie stands up from her chair, her glare actually frightening Casey a little bit. "I refuse to lose my job over this, do you understand me? I am NOT going to be fired because I let personal feelings get in the way. It was too hard to get where I am Casey, and while you might not understand that, I refuse to throw my career away. I'm trying, okay? This is the last thing that I want to do, but I'm not going to throw a case."

With a heavy sigh, Casey folds her arms and sets her jaw tightly. She isn't sure how she's supposed to feel, and while she would like to argue with Abbie on this further, she knows that she can't exactly rationalize her argument. "I just still feel like you don't have to do this."

"Of course you do. You aren't in this position; and I really don't expect you to understand this either. I'm sorry Casey, I really am."

"I know, but that still doesn't mean I'm going to willingly stand here and just agree to testify in this case." Casey says flatly before leaving her best friend's office with out another word between them.

Abbie folds her arms and shakes her head with a sigh of her own. "You don't have to…" she murmurs before picking up her desk phone and placing it to her ear. "Serena, can you bring me the paperwork for a subpoena…"

_"I can, but do you need it now? As in…right now?" _

"Right now would be great yes…"

There is a long drawn out sigh and a small yet audible amount of shuffling before Serena speaks again. "_Fine, I'll be there in a sec…" _

Abbie opens her mouth to say something else but she closes it and shakes her head realizing that she doesn't exactly want to question anything.

Moments later, a slightly flushed ADA steps into her office with a packet of papers in hand as she mercilessly combs her fingers through her hair. This causes the brunette to snicker and raise her eyebrows as her assistant narrows her eyes and holds out the papers, "Were you busy?"

Serena scowls and continues to comb her fingers through her hair in an attempt to get it to lay flat. "Shut up, I was in the middle of working when you called. Why did you need a subpoena anyway? Last I checked you said that you haven't spoken with any of the potential eye witnesses yet."

"I did say that, but I said nothing about a reputation witness." Abbie murmurs as she begins to fill out the first page of the packet.

Serena raises her eyebrows in question and peers over Abbie's shoulder before gasping. "Oh shit, you're really taking this seriously."

"As opposed to doing what…?" is the other wise sharp and curt reply.

"N-nothing I was just…saying I guess. I mean…I'm not sure that I would go as far as to-"

"I didn't bring you in here to tell me how to do my job Southerlyn, I just needed the paperwork."

Serena's mouth snaps shut and she actually feels herself shrink under Abbie's hard gaze. "I wasn't-I didn't mean to-I'm sorry."

Abbie sighs and shakes her head before she leans against her desk. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't snap at you, it isn't your fault that I'm upset. I just really don't want to hear a lecture about how I'm making bad decisions. I know what I'm doing Serena."

"…do you really?"

"Why wouldn't I know what I'm doing? I used to work SVU, I'm pretty sure that I know fairly well what I'm doing."

Serena shakes her head at the question and she briefly wishes that she had thought more about what she was going to say before it left her mouth. "I meant as a person. I know what Abigail wants, but what does Abbie want to do?"

The brunette sighs and shakes her head as she tightly folds her arms. "She wants to throw this case out the window and give up. But she can't do that, because her entire career is at stake here. Look, Serena, I'm going to tell you the same thing that I told Casey, I don't expect you to understand this."

"Well you're right because there really is no way that I can actually understand your situation. Listen, I'm not gonna hold anything against you because I know you're just doing your job, but please at least have a little compassion…"

"I'll do what I can…" Abbie agrees with a small sigh before a smirk crosses her features. "Your shirt is on inside out by the way."

Blushing furiously, Serena looks down and notices that her shirt is in fact inside out. "…I totally planned it that way."

"Suuuure."

**Alex Cabot's Apartment **

Alex sighs heavily as she once again hears a knocking on her front door. She excuses herself from her sister and once again makes her way through the foyer to the door. Looking through the peephole, she rolls her eyes and reluctantly undoes the locks. "What do you want…"

"Good to see you to." Melissa responds as she steps past Alex and into the apartment with out being invited inside. "I was sent for Lauren." She concludes, her eyes landing on her youngest sister. "You are lucky that Mom didn't call the police before she found your note. And I would say that the both of you are very lucky that she sent me and didn't come here herself."

Lauren rolls her eyes and wraps her arms around herself meeting Melissa's glare. "It's not that big a deal. It's not like she was gonna let me come here anyway. Don't give me the 'you're only fifteen speech'. Alex already beat you to that."

"Right well, we should get going."

"I'm not leaving. I want to stay here with Ali."

Melissa's eyebrows shoot into her hair line and she glances at Alex briefly who looks just as shocked as she does. "Lauren seriously, you know that you can't stay here."

Lauren frowns and shakes her head. "Why not? I want to, and I don't see anything wrong with staying here. School is out for break, so what's the problem."

"Melissa's right Lauren, it really would be best for you if you went back home." Alex speaks up, reluctantly agreeing with her elder sister on something.

"And once again I'm gonna ask why not? What's wrong with staying here? Please tell me because I rally don't see anything wrong with it."

Both of the older women sigh simultaneously while the same thing runs through their minds. Neither of them wants the teen to be exposed to the possible horrors and the media that Alex is going to have to go through while awaiting trial. Plus, it certainly wouldn't look good on Alex's part to be looking after a fifteen year old what with how everyone looks at her now.

Lauren's frown deepens and it's almost as if she can read her sisters' thoughts perfectly. "This is stupid. Is this about everything that's going on right now? Alex I know that you won't do anything to me or whatever."

Alex shakes her head and drags her fingers through her hair. "It's not that sweetie, it's just…everyone else out there probably won't think that. I don't want you to be thrown any more into this than you already are. Plus, I really don't have any money right now, there's very little than I can do even for myself let alone a teenager."

"But Melissa can help you with money." Lauren pipes up, completely oblivious to the large rift and rivalry between her two older sisters. "C'mon Alex, I don't wanna go back to that house, there's nothing to do there, and there are so many rules."

This time, it's Melissa who speaks up before Alex has the chance. "Lauren, why don't you go wait in the kitchen while Alex and I have a talk."

The teen eyes her for a moment before she reluctantly gets off the couch and slinks her way into the kitchen with out another word. She knows that it was a lot asking to stay but hell, she meant what she said when she stated that she didn't want to go back home.

Alex sighs before she turns to Melissa, also a little reluctance shinning through on her part. "She can't stay here with me, you know that. With all of my accounts frozen, you know that I couldn't keep her, and I'm really not expecting you to help with anything financial wise."

Melissa is silent for a long moment before she shrugs her shoulders. "It's not like I even expected you to ask; what with your pride and everything."

"Melissa don't start…"

"I'm not. I was just simply saying. I suppose that she could stay with me if I get clearance from Mother, which will be a miracle all in itself. Them maybe you could come by and see her or vise versa. Speaking of Mother, she hasn't called has she?"

Alex's gaze falls to the floor and she sadly shakes her head. "No. Lauren told me that she's basically expressed that she doesn't want to have anything to do with me, especially since the media is starting to pester her. Lauren says she's having in trouble at school with all of this…how are you?"

The eldest Cabot sister snorts humorlessly and shakes her head in disgust. "I'll be honest when I say I don't enjoy having sleazy reporters following me around asking if I'll make a statement or a comment. Maybe an interview here or there, but I honestly don't have anything to say. At least, not anything that wouldn't cause anymore controversy than there already is. I can't understand why they would want an interview with me. I mean, what do they expect me to do? Get on national television and degrade my own sister simply because of the status that we hold? Not gonna happen. I'm surprised that they haven't come after you yet."

"Give them time. I wouldn't put it past anyone to follow me here or anywhere else that I need to go." Alex murmurs shamefully. She can hardly deal with knowing that people judging her whenever she walks into a building, but the fact that people have resorted to even harassing her family…she just doesn't know what to think anymore.

"You know that I'm not going to agree to any of these interviews right? The last thing that I want to do is get on TV and embarrass you."

"Embarrass me, or embarrass yourself." Alex mumbles darkly.

Melissa narrows her eyes and her lips purse into the thinnest little line that they almost disappear. "Why are you always so dead set to believe that my sole purpose in life is to make your life miserable? Sure we might get along, but we're sisters; that is pretty much expected of us. But Alexandra, I know that you aren't a murderer."

"Yeah, I doubt Mom thinks that. Why else would be reluctant to come around me now? That's probably the only reason that she hasn't called or anything. She thinks I did this and the last thing she wants to do is to associate herself with me. It's probably bad enough for her that we share the same last name."

"Alex, please don't think like that. You know how Mom is."

"I know how EVERYONE is Melissa! She's embarrassed of me, and I know it. I just can't understand why you and Lauren aren't."

* * *

**Later **

"So I take it your talk with your sisters didn't go as bad as predicted." Casey queries as she plops down on the sofa.

Alex shakes her head and draws her knees up to her chest before she rests her chin on them. "I guess that you could say that. Lauren really didn't wanna go back home, so she's gonna be staying with Melissa for a while, seeing as she can't exactly stay with me."

Casey nods her head and hums in comprehension. "I get what you're saying. You mentioned that they're having problems with media and stuff like that?"

"Yeah, Melissa told me that reporters follow her around asking for interviews or a statement or something else on the matter. Lauren gets heat from it at school and Mother…well…Mom hasn't exactly spoken to me." the blonde admits sadly.

"Have you tried calling her?" Casey questions, knowing that Alex's mother can be a very strict woman when it comes to certain things.

Alex nods her head and buries her face in her arms to keep her tears from forcing their way past her emotional barrier. "I've tried, she hasn't answered, and it wouldn't surprise me if she never answered. She wants nothing to do with me."

There is a small silence between the two of them before Casey scoots all the way over and wraps the distraught woman in her arms. "She's your mother, I'm sure that she still loves you regardless."

Alex snorts bitterly at the statement and shakes her head in disapproval. "You have no idea about my mother. Like I said before, I'll be surprised if she even comes to visit me in prison."

"Alex, you aren't going to prison."

"You don't know that Casey! And neither do I! All of the evidence points to me, there are only two people that know what happened in that hotel and one of them was so far past drunk that night she probably couldn't even tell you her own name, and the other is dead. All of the evidence points to me, I have no alibi because I was THERE, and I can hardly even remember anything that happened. I have nothing but maybe the benefit of the doubt on my side, but from who?! Why would anyone believe that I didn't do this!?"

"Because we know you Alex." Casey says calmly as she takes both of the blonde's shaking hands in her own. "We know you, and we know that you would never do something like this."

Alex takes her hands away and wipes furiously at her tears that have decided to fall. "You realize what you've said? 'We' know. But I don't know Casey. I really don't. I can't remember what happened, and I just…I just don't know! I don't think that I did this, and I don't want to believe that I did this, but what if I did? What if I'm just the very thing that I've sworn and vowed to put away? How would I be able to live with myself after this?"

**Meanwhile…**

"Liv!"

Olivia sits up from where she had fallen asleep on her desk and pretends to look as if she had been awake the entire time. She relaxes however when she sees that it's only Amanda that has disrupted her sleep.

"Geez Rollins, I was sleeping…" she yawns before glancing around the squad room and taking note that it's empty. "Damn, what time is it?"

The blonde detective glances at her watch and shrugs nonchalantly. "A quarter past ten. Everyone else left maybe an hour ago."

"Shit, I had a date with Serena. I told her I'd meet her at the restaurant at eight thirty." Olivia groans before slamming her head back down on the desk. "She's gonna kill me."

Amanda can't help but snort and snicker at her friend's dilemma. "That's why I'm single partner. Has she called any?"

Olivia pulls out her phone and risks a glance at it, all of the color draining from her face when it says that she has fifteen missed calls and six voicemails…all from Serena. "Yeah, fifteen times. She left voicemails too…I'm really scared to listen."

"Ooo, fifteen huh? Shit, she must be really pissed. You should listen to those messages though, just in case." The younger detective states as she takes it upon herself to have a seat on Liv's desk.

With a thick swallow and a reluctant finger, Liv hesitantly presses the button the calls her voice mail. She puts her phone to her ear listening to her first message as her girlfriend's voice filters through the speaker.

**8:15:** _"Hey Liv, I just wanted to remind you that you said you'd meet me at our favorite restaurant in fifteen minutes. I just thought I'd give you a little reminder, see you soon; love you."_

**8:55:** _"Okay…um, you've been late before but never twenty minutes late, is something going on? If so can you please call me? I'm still at the restaurant." _

**9:04:** _"Okay, seriously Olivia, I look like a complete idiot sitting here with a table for two and I haven't ordered anything for, just over thirty minutes now because I'm still sitting here waiting for you." _

**9:10:** _"Where are you?! I've been calling and calling and calling and you still haven't picked up the phone!" _

Olivia winces as she gets to the fifth phone voice message and she realizes that it comes with tears.

**9:30: **_"Look Liv, if you didn't want to spend time with me today, then you could've just said so instead of standing me up and making me look like a complete idiot by not showing up. It's been an hour and people are looking at me with pity because I haven't ordered for an hour and I keep telling the waitress that you're on your way. I guess you aren't so I'm just going to leave." _

**10:00:** _"Seriously Benson, after that last message I had assumed you would just get your shit together and call me. Obviously I was wrong about that as well. Don't I at least deserve an explanation for you standing me up like this? I looked like a fool sitting there for over an hour by myself Olivia. You could've at least done what you did last time and send Amanda with flowers as your apology for not being able to make it. And the fact that you haven't even called! God I just…I can't believe you." _

Olivia sits her phone on her desk and swallows thickly before turning back to her partner. "Oh god, she's really going to kill me." she breathes before picking up her cell phone again. "I need to call her."

"When's that last message timed?" Amanda asks out of curiosity?

"Uh, at ten o'clock exactly." The brunette replies as she places the phone to her ear to make the phone call that's probably going to get her killed.

Amanda sits and waits patiently as Olivia makes her phone call. The blonde frowns and squints when she swears that she can hear the faintest sound of a cell phone ringing. "Liv, do you hear that?" she whispers as the sound is soon accompanied by the faint staccato clacking of high heels.

Olivia spins in her chair and takes the phone away from here ear briefly as both sounds seem to get louder and louder. She opens her mouth to respond but snaps it shut as her eyes widen in fear.

A very pissed off Serena Southerlyn rounds the corner and steps into the squad room. She's clutching an umbrella at her side and she drops it to the floor as she storms over to her girlfriend who is looking upon her with apologetic eyes.

"Babe, I am so, so, so, sorry." the detective begins as she stands up, only for her mouth to snap shut as she finds herself being pushed back into her chair.

"Don't even start with me. I waited almost two hours for you! And you still didn't even call!" Serena exclaims not caring in the slightest that they have an audience. "Two hours Olivia, and nothing!"

"I was about to call you! Honest I was!"

"Yeah, after I sat in that restaurant for over an hour looking like a complete idiot because my girlfriend didn't even have the decency to call me!" the blonde ADA exclaims loudly, her voice echoing through the empty squad room. Her hard gaze flickers to Amanda and she fixes the younger detective with her hard stare. "And what are you sitting there looking so smug about!?"

The small amused smirk on Amanda's face quickly fades and she vigorously shakes her head. "Nothing, ah, nothing. I was just gonna say, Liv didn't mean to forget about your date, it's just we were working…and we both lost track of time. Sorry…"

"I'm really sorry Serena, I didn't intend to miss out date like this, honest. I'll make it up to you." Olivia explains as she successfully stands from her chair and takes the angry blonde's hand in her own.

Serena huffs and purses her lips before she ducks her head. "Fine, whatever. What were you two doing anyway?"

Once again it's Amanda who steps in and leaves out the fact that the elder detective had fallen asleep at her desk. "We were looking into Alex's case. We're doing our own investigation contrary to what the others believe, which is why we're here so late after everyone. I was just about to explain something I found from the medical examiner when you walked in."

Olivia casts a glance at Amanda that says 'I owe you one' before curiosity fills her facial features. "What'd you find?"

"Well, after I asked that she look deeper into Rachel's rape and everything." Amanda explains holding up a stack of papers.

"I thought that it was already looked into?" Serena questions tilting her head to the side. "That's how they found Alex's DNA all over her."

"Yeah, that's true, but the medical examiner wasn't Melina Warner who can practically make miracles happen. But anyhow, Warner said that when she examined the body again, she found some kinda residue, like the kind that you would find after something has been touched with worn leather glove."

Olivia stands silent for a long moment before she shakes her head. "You lost me Rollins…"

Amanda sighs heavily and rolls her eyes as she blames this slowness on the older woman's lack of sleep, but nevertheless, she digresses. "Okay, this is going to be really awkward to explain but since neither of you are following, just bear with me here. It's obvious that Alex had sex with our victim, Rachel Givens right? Hell, Alex admitted to having sex with the victim; which was proven because Alex's DNA was found all over and inside our victims err…nether regions."

Once again there is silence from the other two women and again Olivia is the first to speak up. "I still don't follow."

Rolling her eyes again, Amanda opens her mouth to respond with something snarky but she finds herself quickly cut off by Serena.

"Wait, I think I get it." the ADA explains with a concentrated frown on her face. "If Alex HAD raped that girl, why would her DNA be found inside of the victim as well as the particles from the glove? If she had raped that girl, why would she have sex with her, _then_ use a glove to rape her when her DNA was already there? Alex may not have the mind of a crafty criminal, but trust me when I say she is by no means THAT stupid."

"Thank you Detective Southerlyn." Amanda says sarcastically giving her partner firm sneer. "Obviously ADA Benson was struggling to keep up."

Olivia rolls her eyes and resists the urge to give the younger woman a shove. "Okay, okay, I get it! Sorry! While that does seem a little more than strange and suspicious, it isn't single handedly enough evidence that's going get these chargers dropped against Alex." She states firmly before turning to her girlfriend. "Do you think that you could help us out if needed?"

Serena chews her lip and hesitates for a moment before she nods. "I'll do what I can. We need to work fast though. I shouldn't be telling you this, but Abbie is taking this case the hell, and she's going to use Casey as a reputation witness since she did see Alex the night of the murder. But I will help with anything that I can."

Amanda nods her head and looks through the papers of their new found findings once more. All three of the women know that they're going to have to work exceptionally hard to find more evidence and they have a very short amount of time to do so.

"We need to find that glove."

**Ooo evidence! Sorta! This is a good thing right? Sheesh though, I do feel bad for Alex's family in all this :/ anyway, leave your feedback!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So…last minute decision, this Abbie is going to be…different than the ones that I've written in my other stories. Well, except in ONE other one, so think of this one ask kind of a grown up…that one. She'll get better though, I promise. Happy Readings!**

Alex awakens in the middle of the night to find the rain battering mercilessly against the windows. She blinks several times and sits up from where she had fallen asleep on the couch as her eyes adjust themselves to the darkness. Staring around the darkened room, she reminds herself of where she is, and then once again she remembers why she's there.

After her eyes have adjusted to the darkness, Alex glances at her cell phone which alerts her that it's just barely past four in the morning. With a soft sigh, her eyes fall upon the news paper that's lying on the coffee table. Ever since all of this came out, Alex has been reluctant to even pick up a newspaper of any sorts but this time her curiosities win out.

Alex groans quietly as her eyes land on the headline: 'ADA Accused of Murder'. Great, she's front page news. She quickly scans through the beginning of the article before she flips to the designated page in the newspaper.

"Well at least they used my work picture and not a mug shot… "She murmurs as she continues reading the news paper.

_'November 31__st__, Executive Assistant District Attorney of the Special Victims Unit Alexandra Cabot was arrested on chargers of first degree rape, and first degree murder of twenty seven year old Rachel Givens. Authorities arrested Cabot a few days later in her office at the District Attorney's Office of Manhattan. _

_ A few days prior to her arrest, evidence lead authorities to believing that the attorney is the prime suspect in the rape and murder of the young woman. Eye witnesses say that they saw Givens leaving a local bar with Cabot on the night of her murder. It is said that the two made their way back to the hotel in which Givens was staying where an outrage presumably took advantage of her by raping her repeatedly and killing her using a knife that had been left in the room prior to the events.' _

Alex stops reading briefly and looks up as her face contorts into confusion. "I had absolutely no idea that I was outraged. Drunk yes, but I had no idea I was outraged." She murmurs to herself before reluctantly turning her attention back to the article.

_'When spotted the older sister of the suspect, Melissa Cabot, turned away reporters stating that she 'had absolutely nothing to say on the matter', and out right refused the request of a sit down interview. Reporters also received a similar reaction from Veronica Cabot when asked about her opinions on her daughter's arrest. _

_ In addition to Cabot's family, reporters have also attempted to get in touch with the lead prosecutor over the case as well as Cabot's colleague, Abigail Carmichael. However, when approached the attorney outright threatened reporters and concluded with saying that she has nothing to say about the matter as well. _

_ Reporters have been unable to get in touch with Cabot, or her attorney, Natalie Brennan and no one currently has any information on Miss Cabot's whereabouts or her residency at the time.' _

Alex finishes reading the article and quickly tosses it back on the coffee table before she sinks into the cushions of the sofa with her head buried in her hands. She knew that there was a reason that she was avoiding looking at any of the news articles and now she knows why. All those things are set out to do are humiliate her even further than what has already been done.

She realizes that if there is some sort of imaginary light at the end of the tunnel, this isn't something that people are just going to forget. She's always going to be labeled as the rapist ADA who probably got off on because of some sort of technicalities. How is she going to be able to go back to work after all of this?

Alex is so caught up in her own thoughts for the next few hours that she doesn't realize that she hadn't fallen back asleep until she sees a pajama clad Casey slinking her way down the stairs.

Casey yawns greatly and runs her fingers through her disheveled bed hair until her eyes fall on the fragile looking blonde situated on her couch. "Alex, did you fall asleep down here?"

With out looking away from the wretched newspaper on the coffee table, Alex nods her head but doesn't say a word.

"How long have you been up?" Casey questions softly as she takes a seat on the sofa as well.

"Since four this morning I think." Alex murmurs in response. "I read the newspaper."

Casey's eyes widen and she briefly glances at the coffee table before she curses herself for not throwing the newspaper away. She had read the very article that Alex was referring to and to be honest, it literally made her skin crawl. "Alex, I'm sorry, I should've know, and I should've thrown it away I-"

"Oh Casey, it's not your fault. I kind of knew what I was getting in to when I picked up the damn thing." Alex sighs as she hangs her head in shame. "How can you believe that I'm not a killer?"

"How can you believe that you are? Alex, look at me; you aren't a murder alright? You didn't do this and everyone is doing everything that they can to clear your name."

Alex shakes her head and she mentally curses as she realizes that tears are lining her eyes. "I don't need your pity."

Casey's eyebrows shoot into her hairline and her mouth opens and closes several times before she can come up with a suitable response. "I'm not pitying you Alex, I care, and I-"

"It is pity Casey." The blonde states firmly as she gets off the couch and begins pacing. "You broke up with me that night Casey. You LEFT me. You ended our relationship, and then you threw me out like it was nothing when you told me to leave. Do you know how I felt?! Of course you don't because you wouldn't even let me explain!"

"Alex I-"

"No Casey, stop, let me say what I need to say. You broke up with me and got rid of me like I didn't even matter. Now I'm being labeled as a rapist and a murder, and NOW you suddenly give a damn about me? What am I suppose to think?! That I need to go out and commit felonies to gain your attention!?"

Casey closes her mouth as she realizes that Alex slightly does have a point. She stands up from her spot on the couch and rests her hands on the blonde's shoulders, flinching when Alex snatches away from her. "I didn't mean for it to seem that way. I'm not standing by you because I pity you Alex. I care about you and I want you to understand that."

Alex snorts humorlessly as her tears begin to fall and she shakes her head. "I just don't see how this makes any sense. I…I love you Casey, but with all this going on…do you love me anymore, or do you just feel sorry for me?"

With a small sigh, Casey successfully places both of her hands gently on Alex's shoulders and stares into watery blue eyes. She still isn't quite used to seeing Alex cry over anything, and she knows that Alex isn't used to crying over anything; it's something they both need to get used to.

"Look at me okay? I shouldn't have treated you like I did, and I shouldn't have kicked you out like that. I know that now isn't the time, but maybe this is what we need to…_rekindle_ our romance." She suggests softly.

Alex is silent for a moment before she hangs her head, more tears falling down her face taking the last remnants of yesterday's makeup with them. "Casey, I want to believe you, honest I do, but I just…I don't want to get hurt again, not now, not again."

Casey opens her mouth to respond when she finds herself cut off by a firm knock at her front door. With a frown, she excuses herself as she makes her way to her front door, wondering why there is someone at her front door so early in the morning.

"Uh yeah, can I help you?" she questions the young man in a baseball cap clutching an envelope who is soaked to the bone from the rain.

"Um, yeah actually. Are you Casey Novak?" he asks, shivering from the cold temperatures on the outside.

Casey takes pity on the young kid but nods her head, curious as to why he's shown up at her door at six in the morning. "Yeah, that's me."

He nods his head shakily and hands her the envelope. "This is for you. Have a good day ma'am." He says politely before making his way back down the hall towards the elevator.

With a frown Casey looks over the envelope wondering what the hell it is. Deciding not to return to the living room, she opens the envelope and her frown of confusion deepens as she finds herself staring at what looks like a pair of legal documents stapled together.

"You are hereby commanded to attend the district court on this date to testify in the-Fucking shit!" she swears as she reads over the familiar paper that she now recognizes as a subpoena. Her anger heightens as she takes note of Abbie's signature scrawled at the bottom of the page.

With a growl, Casey storms back into the living room, momentarily completely forgetting that she has company at the time until Alex speaks up and once again makes her presence known.

"Casey, is everything alright? Who was at the door?" the blonde asks concernedly wondering what is the meaning of Casey's sudden change in mood.

Casey murmurs to herself for a moment before she storms back up the stairs and changes quickly, all the while staring at the god forbidden subpoena letting it know that it's made things a thousand times harder. Minutes later she returns down stairs and grabs her keys off of the counter, all the while still clutching the envelope in her grip.

"Everything's fine. I just have to run an errand. Are you okay with being here by yourself?" she asks Alex quickly trying not to let her anger show through anymore than it already is. Instead of waiting for a response, she quickly gives Alex a peck on the lips, thinking nothing of it. "Great, I'll be back soon okay?" she concludes leaving a very confused blonde in her wake with tingly lips and a conflicted expression.

Casey's hands grip the steering wheel of her car so tight that she's almost positive that the veins in her hands are going to explode. She tries to deflect her anger to various things around her such as the traffic in an attempt to tone it down when she gets to her destination.

Not giving a damn what time it is, the redhead soon finds herself standing outside of a familiar apartment, pounding mercilessly on the door, not giving a damn if she wakes up any of the residence on the floor. In fact, she is about to start yelling when she is greeted with her very disgruntled looking 'best friend'.

"Casey what the fuck, it's six thirty in the morning and you're out here trying to knock my door of the hinges." Abbie grumbles, her voice sleep laced and huskier than usual.

Casey scowls and shoves the paperwork in the brunette's chest and succeeds in forcefully pushing her back further in to the apartment. "**You**…are an asshole." She states firmly as she gives Abbie another shove.

Abbie frowns and takes another step back, succeeding in putting an appropriate amount of distance between her and the angry redhead. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know damn well what I'm talking about." Casey exclaims as she points to the crumbled sheets of paper that have now fallen to the floor. "You fucking sent a subpoena after I distinctively told you that I would not agree to testify in this case."

"I'm well aware of that yes." Abbie responds, a strangely cool demeanor taking over her voice. "You wouldn't willingly agree, but I didn't need you to. I only need you to legally agree, and you will. Unless you would like to go to jail, that would be your alternative option."

Casey's mouth falls agape as she realizes that she doesn't even recognize her best friend at this moment. She averts her gaze to something elsewhere in the room before she shakes her head. "I don't even know you right now. How can you be so cold and unrelenting like this? Do you not have a compassionate bone in your body?"

Abbie sighs and folds her arms tightly across her chest. She should have known that Casey would show up at her doorstep not long after the subpoena was delivered. "I am not paid to be compassionate; you of all people should know that. I know that you don't want to here this, but I refuse to lose my job over this. I love Alex to death, but Casey she's not worth losing my job over."

"I honestly never even knew that you of all people could be so cold and heartless. Do you not care that what you do could determine the fate of another woman's life? Her career? Pretty much everything that she lives for?"

"I'm not saying that I don't care Casey. Of course I care."

"Just not enough." Casey concludes bitterly before she shakes her head in disbelief again. "Seriously, I don't even know what to think right now. It's literally like I don't even know you anymore. Are you literally that ambitious that you don't care what happens to people around you?"

Abbie scoffs and chuckles humorlessly, a sound that actually reminds Casey of that of an evil witch that you would see in a Disney cartoon. "Stop saying that I don't care, because I do. You would know if you were in my position, but you aren't. I'm not losing my job over this Casey, and that's the last time I'm gonna say it. I have no choice."

"No, you do have a choice. But it seems like you've already made yours."

* * *

**District Attorney's Office of Manhattan **

The woman sighs heavily as she pulls her coat tighter around herself against the Saturday morning raining. It is freezing cold outside, and the fact that it's raining makes it ten times worse for her. Getting tired of being smacked in the face because of the wind, she settles on tying her hair into a tight ponytail to keep it from aggravating her any longer.

With a shudder, she slips between the two buildings and makes her way to the back where she shivers once again because of the freezing temperatures. She fishes around in her coat pocket until her fingers land upon just what she's looking for. She scans the badge against the back entrance of the building and swears under her breath when it denies her access.

"Damn it, come on." She grumbles indignantly as she scans the badge once again, this time resisting the urge to do a mini victory dance when the little green light on the panel beeps, unlocking the door.

Quietly, she slips inside the building, just incase anyone is around, but they shouldn't be, especially since it's practically six in the morning on a Saturday and the office is in fact closed. But she still refuses to take any chances as she carefully slips through the hallways and quietly makes her way to the elevator.

She checks her surroundings once again to make sure that she is alone as she patiently waits for the lift. The elevator dings signaling it's arrival and she slips inside, quickly pressing the button for the sixth floor.

The ride to the designated floor is agonizing and she paces the small metal box as it makes it's painfully slow accent. In fact, she becomes so engrossed in her own thoughts that the ding signaling her arrival nearly scares her half to death. Tightening her coat round her once more, she pockets her head out of the elevator into the dark hall ways once again making sure that she is alone.

She steps out of the lift and quietly makes her way down the darken hall ways of the sixth floor, carefully analyzing her surroundings as she passes dark offices and empty cubicle spaces. Finally after looking around, she rounds one last corner and finds the office that has 'A. Carmichael' etched into the little metal nameplate on the door.

"This is so illegal." She murmurs to herself, checking her surroundings again, this time just for safety. She slips her hands into her pockets and pulls out the brand new pair of leather gloves that she had bought that morning specifically for the task at hand.

"Just out of curiosity." She mumbles as she tries the door knob, sighing heavily when she feels the knobs resistance because of the lock. "So much for wishful thinking."

She crouches in a squat position and pulls out her hair pin before she straightens the pin with her teeth. Skillfully, she inserts the pin into the keyhole and tweaks it around in a repetitive fashion.

"Yes." She whispers triumphantly as hers the small 'click' of the lock giving way, and this time when she turns the knob, she finds herself completely able to open the door. She glances over her shoulder before she proceeds into the office, quietly closing the door behind her.

She moves across the darkened office and uses her gloved hand to turn on the desk lamp, illuminating the area in a small but yet effectively lit glow that gives her enough light to see. She moves the chair away from the desk and has a seat in it as she scans the surface of the desk for what she's looking for.

"Alright Carmichael, let's see how organized you really are." She says out loud as she rummages through the various papers on the desk, swearing quietly when she comes up empty handed. A small light bulb clicks in her head and her still fully gloved hand moves to open one of the desk drawers. "Damn!" she exclaims when she finds that it's locked as well.

Repeating her earlier antics with the door, she soon finds herself able to easily slide it open, revealing several neatly filed folders nestled in the drawer. She looks through them for a moment before pulling out the folder that is labeled _'People v. Cabot'_

"There you are." She smiles triumphantly as she opens the folder and glances at the various stacks of paperwork on the inside complete with several legal notes made from the prosecuting attorney, the police reports, and everything else that would be needed by the prosecution.

With a satisfied sigh, she closes the desk drawer once again and squeals in happiness when she finds that it locks on its own. She stands up form the chair and slides it back under the desk before she turns out the light, engulfing the room into a slight darkness once more.

She makes her way back over to the door and turns the lock before quietly closing it. She checks to make sure that it locks as well, and she smiles slightly to herself as she realizes that her mission was in fact successful.

As she makes her way back onto the street, she tucks the file under her arm to keep from getting it wet and pulls her coat up to her cheeks not only to conceal herself from the cold, but also from anyone who might recognize her because that is most definitely the last thing that she wants.

**I told you guys I was gonna make Abbie different. Ooo and how bout that suspenseful ending right there?! Mwahahahaha, you guys know how I am with cliffhangers now, don't go acting all surprised Hehehe. **

**Also, shout out to Tracer0403: I LOVE LOVE LOVE **_**LOVE**_** your profile picture ;) **

**Anyhow, leave your feedback!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Fun fact of the day, it was actually my intention to write Abbie the way that I did. I was just writing a chapter one day and bam, she came out like that. Unfortunately it went with the flow, so…I kept it going. Honestly though, it breaks my heart to write her this cold :( anyway, happy readings!**

Abbie steps into her office a little less than pleased on Monday morning. It's been raining nonstop through the weekend, and being from Texas, she is most definitely not used to the rain, in fact, it's something that she doesn't think she'll ever get used to.

With a sigh, she sits her stuff down and plops down in her chair before she rests her head in her hands. Ever since her little 'disagreement' with Casey a couple days prior, she's found herself to be in a foul mood. How dare Casey show up at her home and then give her shit about doing her job? How could she do that when she doesn't even know the circumstances? Abbie knows that she's doing the right thing; at least, that's what she tells herself to help her sleep at night.

"Sometimes I fucking hate this job." She mumbles as she inserts a key into one of her desk drawers and pulls it open. A concentrated frown comes across her face as she reaches down into the drawer and begins looking through the filed folders.

Eventually, she settles on taking all of the folders out of the drawer and she looks through them one by one, cycling through a second time once she's sure that she's looked at all of them. "What the hell…?" she mutters as she realizes that she's missing a file; Alex's file.

"I know I didn't take it home. I'm _positive_ that I didn't take it home." the agitated attorney says out loud as she rummages through her attaché and the several varieties of papers that litter her desk.

This is making absolutely no sense to her. She knows for a fact that she didn't take that file home, and she made an important note in her mind to keep it locked away in her desk, but it's not there. In fact, nothing that has to do with Alex's case is there. Granted, the most of it was filed away in that folder locked in her drawer, but still, it's as if everything has completely disappeared.

Abbie groans irritably as she sets out the impossible task to almost literally tear her office apart looking for where ever that file has decided to run off to. With out it, she has literally nothing, and she is pretty much fucking screwed for this case. The police reports, her notes, everything was in that damn folder, and now it's missing.

"What're you looking for?" Serena asks curiously as she steps into her boss's office upon seeing it in shambles.

"I think I lost a file." Abbie grumbles with a heavy sigh as she once again finds herself coming up empty. "I left it here locked in my desk over the weekend, and when I came in this morning, it was gone."

Serena bites her lip and hums as she leans against Abbie's desk. "Weird. Did you maybe leave it in your car or something and just forgot?"

"No, like I said, I'm positive that I left it here over the weekend, and now it's not here." The brunette exclaims exasperatedly before her arms fall limply to her sides. "I just don't understand. How is it a file can be here one day and gone the next? It's not like it grew legs and ran away."

"Well it could've." Serena says nonchalantly with a shrug. She clears her throat in recovery when she sees the glare that Abbie has fixated her way. "Right, sorry. Ah, what file was it?"

Abbie sighs again and runs her hand through her hair with the other resting on her hip. "It was the file for Alex's case. Pretty much everything that I needed from that case was in the folder, and it's just gone! Did you move it by any chance?"

Serena raises her eyebrows and slowly shakes her head. "Me? Why would I move your file? It's your case, not mine."

"You're right…maybe Kim moved it."

"That wouldn't make sense either since you said that you left it here locked in your desk. Don't only you have a key to your desk?"

"Still wouldn't hurt to go ask her though right?" the brunette states with a smirk, her smirk fading when she sees the look that Serena is giving her. "Guess not."

Serena rolls her eyes and fiddles with some of the random things on Abbie's desk. "She still won't cave huh?"

"Not in the slightest!" Abbie exclaims with another exasperated sigh. "I asked her to dinner the other day and she just looked at me for the longest of times as if I had just asked her how to spell her own name. Then you know what she says? She says no! She said it all smug like too! God, she's worse than YOU!"

Serena rolls her eyes again but this time shakes her head. "I was seeing someone at the time you were trying to use your so called charm to 'court' me, that's why I said no. Unless you would have rather had Liv shoot you in the foot like she really wanted to."

"…she wanted to shoot me?"

"That's not the point Abbie. The point is, I said know, because I was already seeing someone."

Abbie nods her head and there is a small pause before she looks up at Serena again. "So you think Kim is seeing someone?"

The blonde attorney sighs heavily and shakes her head once again. "I didn't say that, but I doubt that she would flirt with you like she does if she were seeing someone."

"You flirted with me…"

"I teased you Abbie, there's a difference; which, I am pretty sure, is what Kim is doing, and granted I have to say, she's pretty damn good at it."

Abbie hangs her head as a frown of confusion crosses her features. "Why do you two tease me like that?"

"Because you're such a flirt and it's hilarious." Serena explains, unable to hide her giggles. "You're like that typical TV boss that always wants to have sex with his assistants. I would give you some advice, but I want to see how Kim is gonna play this. Honestly I understand why she wants to tease you. It's so much fun to take your ego down several pegs and watch your squirm because you're sexually frustrated."

"Gee thanks….that really means a lot Serena." Abbie grumbles retreating back to her chair, still extremely frustrated that she can't find that file.

"How are you and Casey after you sent that subpoena?" the blonde asks curiously as she takes a seat in one of the chairs placed there for visitors.

Abbie sighs and rakes her hands through her hair as she stares blankly at her desk. "I don't even know Serena. She came to my apartment pissed off but I should've expected her to. I honestly won't be surprised if she doesn't even speak to me at all, well, socially at least. That is probably going to be the world's most difficult witness prep…"

"Wow so you're really using her as a witness? I didn't think you'd follow through."

"And why would I not? This isn't worth losing my job over Serena you know that. I've heard this enough from Casey, and I really don't want to hear it anymore from you."

Serena holds up her hands in surrender as she shrugs her shoulders. "Calm down, I'm just saying. I guess I just thought…" she trails off not knowing what to say. _'You had a heart?' _"I don't know what I thought. Well…you know what you're doing so I guess that I can't really question your ethics."

Abbie hums and nods her head in agreement. "I'd rather you not. Although, I don't know what the fuck I'm gonna do with out that file. Ugh, I'm so fucking screwed."

**Casey Novak's Apartment**

"Are you alright?" Alex asks as she stands in the doorway of Casey's bedroom. She chuckles softly when the redhead responds, but her words are muffled by where she has her face pressed down into the mattress. "So is that a no?"

Casey sighs and turns her head towards the doorway all the while remaining sprawled out on the bed. "I've been better…" she responds forcing a smile. She has been deep in thought for the past few days about what Abbie making her do and she's decided, no matter how bad she wants to, she just can't bring herself to tell Alex. Part of her wants to, and is telling her she should, but a totally different part is saying that it's best that she refrain from saying anything. Hopefully all of this will blow over before the actual trial.

Alex remains silent for a moment before she finds herself stepping further into the room. "Are you stressed over something?" she asks taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

With a groan Casey sits up on her knees before she sighs heavily. "I dunno, kinda, I guess. I never thought I'd say this but I miss work ya know?"

"When is Liz gonna let you back in?"

"I have no idea. Whenever she feels like it I guess. I mean, I guess I've kinda enjoyed my suspension. It's given me time to spend with you."

A small smile ghosts across Alex's lips and she ducks her head to stare at her hands. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

Casey shrugs and shifts to where she is lying on her back, once again sprawled out across the bed. "It's no problem. I care about you, and I want you to be safe and comfortable."

"Thanks, that's very sweet of you." Alex responds quietly. Her face contorts into a confused frown when she sees Casey repeatedly rubbing at her neck. "You're not fine, what's up?"

"Ah, it's nothing. I guess I've just been really stiff and tense lately." Casey states as she tries to roll out the soreness in her shoulders. "It usually just goes away."

Alex tilts her head to the side before she abruptly stands up and disappears into Casey's bathroom. She rummages for something in the cabinet below the sink before her eyes land on a familiar bottle that she left there but never really used.

She scoops up the bottle and returns to the bedroom to a very confused redhead looking up at her from the bed. "Take off your shirt."

Casey raises her eyebrows and opens and closes her mouth a few times before forming words. "What? Why? What is that?"

"It's a massage lotion that I bought once but never used it. I guess I just left it here and I didn't remember it until just a few moments ago. Now I must repeat my earlier statement; take off your shirt." Alex repeats firmly.

Casey opens her mouth to protest but closes it when she sees the look that Alex is giving her. With a sigh she crosses her arms over her torso before she pulls her shirt over her head. "Happy?"

'Very.' Alex thinks to herself before she clears her throat and opens the bottle. "Good, now lie on your stomach."

"Alex, what're you gonna-"

"Lie on your stomach."

With another sigh, Casey does as she's told as she lies on her stomach and rests her chin on her hands. Her heart rate speeds up when she feels Alex straddling her from behind and she has to keep from moaning right then.

Alex squeezes the lotion on to her hands and sets the bottle on the nightstand before she rubs her hands together. "Just try to relax." She whispers as she begins kneading the muscles in Casey's shoulders.

Casey finds herself having to bite down on her lower lip to keep from moaning because of the amazing sensation of Alex's hands working her sore muscles. "Oh god, your hands are amazing." She groans knowing that fact has been true for some time.

"Thanks, I think." Alex responds with a chuckle as she moves her massage down Casey's back. "I took massage classes when I was in college. Figured they would come in handy at some point, you know?'

"Mmmm, well they have most definitely come in handy."

"Great. Are you feeling better?"

Casey nods her head and gives the incentive that she wants to turn over. She sits up and smiles as she takes one of Alex's hands in her own. "Much. Thank you."

Alex smiles at the warmth of Casey's hand. It isn't until then that she becomes aware of their close proximities. Swallowing thickly, she weaves her fingers into Casey's hair and slowly begins to close the distance between them. She holds them for a moment giving the redhead a chance to back away, but when she doesn't Alex closes the distance between them and presses their lips together in a firm yet gentle kiss.

The kiss is warm, passionate, and filled with the need and lust that has been radiating off of both women for the past week or so. Their tongues dance in a synchronized battle for dominance, and hands begin to roam over familiar curves that haven't been felt in ages.

The need for air becomes too great for Alex and she breaks the kiss but keeps she forehead rested against Casey's. Blue eyes gaze into green for the longest of times before Alex quietly breaks the silence. "I-I love you." she whispers, her voice displaying her need as well as her love.

Something flashes in Casey's eyes and she pulls away, probably a little too quickly for comfort. She catches the hurt expression crossing Alex's face and she nervously begins to rub the back of her neck as she averts her gaze elsewhere.

"Wow Alex, I…um…" Casey begins but trails off as she realizes she doesn't know what it is that she wants to say.

A feint blush appears on Alex's face and she too averts her gaze to anywhere else than the woman sitting before her. "You…you don't love me anymore." she murmurs, her tone laced with hurt.

"Alex, I didn't say that." Casey tries to explain as the blonde quickly gets off the bed.

"You didn't have to." Alex says flatly as she makes her way over to the door. She pauses briefly when she hears her name once again, but shakes her head before she disappears down the hall to lock herself in the guest bedroom where she's residing.

Casey groans and flops onto her back with irritation. What the hell had just happened? She still loved Alex, right? Then why the hell couldn't she say it?

**Later That Night **

"This is so fucking ridiculous." The woman mutters to herself as she looks through Abbie's desk for a second time to make sure that she's gotten everything. Honestly how could there be more? She had assumed that everything was in that file that she took a couple days prior.

"Ugh, damnit." She groans as she sits down the stack of papers and puts her hands on her hips. "Okay think; if I were her, where would I lose stuff." She mumbles as she tries to get into Abbie's state of mind.

Glancing around, she notices a case positioned under the desk. With curiosity, she bends down and retrieves the case, opening it to find it's a laptop case. "Because all smart attorneys leave their laptops at the office right?" she states sarcastically before she slides the computer out of the case and places it on the desk.

She taps her fingers anxiously against the desk as she waits for the laptop to start up. A frustrated groan escapes her lips when she realizes that she's going to need a password to login to the account.

"Fuck, I haven't done this in a while…" she groans irritably as she goes through the steps of hacking into the account with out the password. She hums quietly to herself as she types in the appropriate commands into the command prompt and patiently waits for the computer to do its thing.

'Access Granted' flashes across the screen and a well satisfied smile spreads across her face as she is logged into Abbie's user account. She scrolls through the programs until she comes across a folder labeled 'cases'.

"Of course this would be secured as well." She chuckles to herself as she easily bypasses the security password placed to secure the folder. Now THAT she remembers how to do. She opens the folder and scrolls down to the folder marked 'Cabot' and opens it, revealing more notes and paperwork that wasn't in the file folder that she took.

She then fishes in her pocket for a moment before she produces a simple USB drive that she plugs into one of the ports on the laptop. She copies the file onto the USB drive and then deletes the file from the computer all together.

Once the task is complete, she unplugs the USB from the laptop and shuts it down before she slips it back into its case and replaces it back where she found it. Standing up from the chair, she makes her way over to the door to leave when she hears something that causes her to freeze in her tracks. Shit is that someone coming?

Kim Greyleck is so focused on what she's doing, she doesn't think anything about the fact that Abbie's office is unlocked long after the brunette has left. In fact, she is so intently focused on what she's doing that she doesn't notice the woman that is pressed tightly into the corner of the office standing maybe a good fifteen feet away or so.

She checks through the files in her arms once again and places them on Abbie's desk. Ugh, the things that she does for this woman, like stay hours upon hours after she's supposed to go home, just to get the work done. Never once has she stayed behind to finish up the work for any boss that she's had, but here she is, staying after hours all for Abbie fucking Carmichael. What the hell has gotten into her.

"This is fucking ridiculous." Kim murmurs to herself as she shakes her head in disapproval of her own feelings. She's Kim Greyleck. She just doesn't _do_ feelings. Hell, she doesn't fucking blush either but ever since she's met Abbie she's found herself doing a whole lot of that. "Maybe I will go back and take her up on her dinner offer…"

For a moment, Kim feels like someone is watching her, or at least in the room with her. Then again, she is staying after hours in an otherwise dark building. It just screams horror movie, so of course she's going to be paranoid. With a sigh, she shakes her head and turns around to leave.

The woman holds her breathe as Kim pauses literally just five feet from where she's tucked into the corner by the door. In fact, they are standing so close, that she can see the concentration yet a slight pinch of paranoia etched across Kim's face.

Finally after a long moment she watches as Kim shakes her head and exits Abbie's office. The woman waits for a moment to make sure Kim is completely out of the way before she exits the office as well and quietly closes the door behind her once again getting away completely unscathed.

**That Alex/Casey moment up there was a little sad to me :( **

**OMG and do you guys have any guesses on the identity of this mystery woman who is basically a freaking ninja? Well, all you got as a clue is: You know it's not Kim! ;) leave your feedback!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Ahhh so you guys hate this Abbie. Yeah, I know. she's not my favorite either. But, every character has to be different now and again right? Lol, happy readings guys. **

"Alex, sweetie, you haven't eaten in two days." Casey says softly as she leans against the doorframe, gazing concernedly at the blonde curled up in a fetal position in her guest bed. She knows that she's the cause of Alex's pain, and it makes her feel a thousand times worse because of it.

"I'm not hungry." Alex mumbles, not even bothering to turn over and do so much as glance at the woman in the doorway.

Casey sighs heavily and runs a frustrated hand through her hair. She knows that Alex is downright impossible and when she has her mind set on something there is no way in hell that she's going to change it. But it literally has been two days since the blonde has even bothered to eat anything, and Casey knows for a fact that it's going to start taking a toll on her health. She knows that Alex is stressed and that stress combined with food deprivation makes for some pretty dangerous outcomes.

"Alex please, just please eat something for me?" She pleads softly as she cautiously steps into the room. "You're going to make yourself sick if you continue to starve yourself like this."

Once again, just as before, Alex refuses to turn over, but instead she curls herself into a tighter little ball as if to seek protection from her inner being. "I already told you Casey, I'm not hungry. Please just let it go?"

Casey's lips purse into a thin little line and she walks around to the other side of the bed. She has to fight herself to keep from gasping as she sees Alex's eyes bloodshot red, her face devoid of all make up, and her cheeks are stained with tears that continue to fall.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Casey questions softly, and as soon as the words leave her mouth, she wants to kick herself for asking such a stupid question. She knows good and well why Alex is crying, and once again, she knows that she's the cause of it.

Alex doesn't tear her eyes away from the blankness that she's staring into. Truth be told, she considers just lying there, unresponsive, hoping that Casey will eventually take the incentive and just leave her to sink further into the hole that she's been shoved into. But if anything, she knows for a fact that the redhead will sit there and wait hours on end for a response, even if it is just a small murmur.

"I don't want to talk about it." Alex mumbles, still having her gaze fixated on the nothing that she's become so familiar with over the course of the past few weeks.

With a sigh, Casey rubs the back of her neck and she curses herself for putting her foot in her mouth. "Look, I know that I'm the reason that you're upset. Well, at least I know I'm one of the reasons that you're upset. What happened a couple nights ago…listen, I just didn't mean to hurt you."

At this, Alex snorts humorlessly and she briefly shifts on the bed, her reddened eyes landing on Casey intently. "You might not have intended to hurt me, but you meant what you said…or what you didn't say."

"Sweetheart I-"

"Please don't call me that."

Casey has to fight the urge to roll her eyes as Alex cut her off. "Fine, Alex, I really didn't mean to hurt you alright? Things, they're hard right now? I mean, I know that they're hard for you; of course they're going to be hard for you. But in their own way, things are hard for me to. I don't…I just need to figure myself out?" her words come out as more of a statement than a question, and they succeed in confusing her even further.

"You need to figure out whether or not you still love me. Judging by the look in your eyes a few nights ago, you obviously don't." Alex says firmly, her tone briefly portraying that of the usual Alexandra before it quickly slips back into that of the pathetic nothing she feels like she's become. "I mean, how could you still love me? Even I disgust myself. Please, just go."

"Alex, please don't say that. I want to help you I just wish you'd let me." Casey explains softly. She opens her mouth to say more but soon finds herself cut off by the sound of someone knocking on her front door. Now who the hell could that be?

She gives Alex a knowing glance before she makes her way downstairs to the door where she is met with a very concerned looking Serena. "Serena, what're you doing here?"

Serena shivers slightly from the cold temperatures on the outside and quickly regains her composure. "I thought I would stop by on my lunch break, can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure of course." Casey says stepping to the side to allow the blonde attorney to step into her apartment.

"How is she?" Serena asks in reference to her seemingly lost best friend. "Or more so, how has she been?"

Casey sighs and wraps her arms around herself as she gets this far off look in her eyes. "She's…she's not so good Rena, in all honesty. She won't eat, she hardly ever speaks, and I don't think she gets any sleep at night."

Serena takes a deep breath and nods her head. "This case must really be hard on her…" she murmurs as she takes a seat next to the redhead on the sofa.

"I…not all of it is the case." Casey admits shamefully as she finds herself unable to look at the woman sitting next to her though she can just tell that Serena is looking at her for an explanation.

"What do you mean?"

Casey sighs again and takes a deep breathe as she hopes that this story isn't going to cause Alex's longtime best friend to slaughter her in her own living room. "A couple of nights ago, we got close…almost a little too close if you get what I'm saying. Alex, she-…she told me that she loved me, and I just…I couldn't say it back. I wanted to believe me, but something was stopping me, and I just couldn't say it."

Serena is completely silent for a moment and it actually scares Casey but she relaxes when the blonde speaks up. "I'm not here to berate either of you because it most definitely is not my place. But, why couldn't you say it? Do you not love her anymore?"

"No, I do! I just…I don't know why I couldn't say it Serena, I really don't. I want to tell her so bad, but every time I try, I just…I just stop." Casey explains sadly.

Once again there is silence from the other end of the couch. Honestly, Serena is really good at scaring the hell out of people and making them feel two feet tall with out even trying to. Finally, after more silence, she speaks again.

"What made you want to break up with her? I heard her side of the story, but I think I will understand more if I hear yours."

"Our relationship…it just got so rocky. I didn't know what to do with it anymore. I needed her to be there, and she just…she wasn't there! I don't know how else to explain. She's so…focused on everything that I felt like I was last in her life. I understand how dedicated she is to her job, but I couldn't deal with being last like that anymore. I was basically fighting mountains of paperwork for my girlfriend's attention. I was tired of waking up to an empty bed on weekends because she had put in for working overtime. I was in a relationship of empty beds and cancelled dates, and several lonely nights. Do you know what that's like?"

A small smile flits across Serena's face and she chuckles nervously as she combs her fingers through her hair. "I would have to say that I do. I'm seeing a cop remember? And Olivia is gone more times than I can count. I mean hell, not to long ago, she left me at a restaurant for two hours because she fell asleep at her desk, but we still find ways to make it work."

"But that's slightly different Serena!" Casey exclaims with an exaggerated sigh. "Alex was always gone purely by choice. I just…the fact that she put everything else in front of me, it hurt, and I didn't know how else to deal with it. She'd be so distant, and busy, and now that she needs me, I want to be there for her in anyway possible, but that one little thing is holding me back from telling her that I still love her."

"You're afraid of getting hurt then." Serena says, her words coming out as more of a statement rather than a question.

Casey sighs again and hugs her knees closes to her chest. "I guess so, and I feel so fucking selfish and stupid for thinking like that. Alex needs me, she needs you, she needs everyone. And this case, it's taking it's toll on her. It's like she's been thrown into a deep ditch and then there are people like Abbie who just come along and shove her back down every time she tries to get back up and then they just step on her to make their own way across the ditch."

Serena winces at the use of Casey's metaphor against their dark haired colleague. She knows that with Abbie's reputation, she is notorious for being cold and unrelenting towards defendants, but this is just downright ridiculous.

"I'm sorry that she's being…like that." Serena murmurs shaking her head in disapproval. "I've tried to talk to her, but then she goes all…well scary so I kind of give up."

"I just wish there was a way to get through to her." Casey says with a sigh. "For her to see what she's doing and at least have a heart."

"Yeah…Hey, would you mind if I go up and see my best friend?" Serena asks standing up from the sofa.

Casey stands up as well and holds her hand out toward the stairs. "Not at all, go right on up."

Serena nods her thanks and makes her way up there stares where she soon comes to the room where she sees a slim body curled into a tight little ball. She stands in the doorway for a moment before she enters the room and takes a seat on the bed. "Alex honey?"

Alex sniffles and turns over, a small smile spreading across her face when she sees her best friend. "Hey you." she drawls as she wipes her still reddened eyes.

"Hey yourself. How are you holding up?" Serena asks, thoroughly surprised when she feels Alex curl into her. Oh yes, this case is definitely taking a toll on her because Alex typically isn't a snuggler.

"I've been better. You know, considering the world hates me." Alex mutters indignantly.

Serena shakes her head and combs her fingers through the taller woman's hair. "The world doesn't hate you sweetie. You know…I spoke with your sister the other day." she concludes, closing her eyes when she feels Alex tense in her arms.

"Which one…" is the other wise dark question.

"Uh, the big one. Hell, you know the three of you look the same." Serena replies with a light chuckle.

Alex sits up and narrows her eyes at her best friend. "Serena, there is nearly a twenty year age difference between Lauren and I, how could you possibly say that we look the same?"

Serena shrugs nonchalantly at the question. "Your Mom carries strong genes."

Alex tenses again at the mention of her mother but she shakes it off as something that she doesn't want to talk about. "Right…anyway, why were you talking to Melissa?"

"She's worried about you, and she wants to know if you need anything. Like money, seeing as all of your accounts are-"

"You can tell her to take her money and shove it up her-"

"Alex!"

"What? I'm serious. I don't want her help and I don't NEED her help. I would rather sit somewhere broke and starving before I ask her for anything."

Serena sighs and shakes her head once again. "Why are you so hostile towards your sister? She just wants to help you."

Alex snorts and curls into Serena's side once again. "Well I don't want her help, and I don't need it. Right now, I just want you to hold me, tell me everything is going to be alright, and not ask any questions."

Placing a kiss to Alex's head, Serena holds her tighter and nods. "Everything's gonna be alright Ali, I promise."

**Late That Night **

She hates that she now feels like she has to make a habit of checking Abbie's office almost daily to swipe anything and everything about the Cabot case away from the dark haired attorney. It makes her feel paranoid if she doesn't which is really ridiculous.

She sighs in tension filled relief when she sees a note pad sprawled on Abbie's desk with her newly restarted legal notes about the case. "Perfect." She utters to herself as she begins to read through the notepad.

"You're handwriting is horrible." She snorts, shaking her head as she deciphers Abbie's chicken scratch cursive all over the pages. She is so focused on reading through the notepad, that she doesn't notice the brunette that has quietly crept into the office behind her.

"Hey…"

Her eyes widen to the size of baseballs and she quickly spins around only to be met with the confusing eyes of Kim who seems to be staring her up and down. "Uh, Hey."

"What're you doing in here?"

**Uh oh! Ninja caught! Cliffie! And geez, Alex and Casey really do have some figuring out to do. Well, more so Casey than Alex but still. **

**Before I go, I just want to rant to you guys if you don't mind…I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE, all those fucking 'NOW KISS' moments on Rizzoli and Isles! I mean moment after moment there is a PERFECT moment for something to happen and then it just DOESN'T. Hell, sometimes you think it IS going to happen and then it just DOESN'T. UGH. Sorry…I needed to get that out. I am an avid Rizzles shipper and the show just loves to tease me… **

**Anyhow, leave you feedback? **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: This chapter….hm…is all I'm gonna say. Happy readings!**

"What're you doing in here?"

Serena swallows and puts on her best smile trying to remain calm and not show that she is nervous. "Oh, ya know, just…I think I left something in here earlier and I really needed it so I thought I'd come look for it."

Kim raises her eyebrows and eyes the blonde suspiciously. "But she keeps the door locked. How did you…"

"Oh, I have a key." Serena lies flawlessly. "Abbie gave me a key, because she knows how I am when I come in here and just get to talking and stuff. I tend to leave stuff here and she got really tired of me calling her at night asking if I could come over to get the key to her office because I left something in her. So basically, she just settled on giving me a key just incase now." She concludes. Serena personally thinks that it is a really good lie on her part, especially since she just made it up on the spot. She has deduced that Kim is still fairly new enough that the lie might actually seem believable, and she just might buy it.

Kim still stares at Serena for a moment before her eyes travel to the elder attorney's hands. Kim may not have been working in the DA's office long, but she is not by any means stupid. "Why are you holding Abbie's legal pad?"

Serena mentally curses at the round of questioning. She should have been more prepared for this, but at the same time, she was sure that she wasn't gonna get caught. "Um, I was just…moving it. It was in the way. What are you doing here?" she asks, hopefully turning the tables on the brunette and getting the attention off of her.

Kim takes the bait and simply shrugs at the question. "Working late. Abbie needed something earlier and I couldn't find time to get it done, so I just thought I'd stay and get it done so it'll be on her desk in the morning."

"…you like her." Serena states after a long and slightly uncomfortable silence. Her words come out as more of a statement rather than a question, and she is unable to hide the smirk that is spreading across her face.

"Why would you say that? Simply because I want to get my work done?" Kim responds with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Something like that. Hell would have to freeze over twice in two days if I were to ever stay late to get anything done. So either, you are a psychotic workaholic, or you have a thing for our dark haired beauty here."

Kim crosses her arms and glares at Serena before she turns her head to glare at the wall. "I might…just a little. It's nothing big or anything if that's what you're thinking. I just don't want her to think I'm a slacker or something."

Serena snorts and shakes her head. "Right, that's it. Like I said, not once have I ever stayed to get something done for her. Plus I see the flirtatious banter that goes on between the two of you. It's no secret that you want something to happen."

"I'm not going to lie and say I don't, but there's a reason that I haven't said anything. Lately she seems, cold, distant, everything like that."

"Yeah, she's…yeah." Serena nods as she glances down at the legal pad realizing that she isn't going to get it out of there as long as Kim is standing there talking to her. She needs to improvise and fast. "So um, what are you here working on?"

Kim shrugs nonchalantly at the question. "Just organizing some paperwork into their designated folders." She says motioning to the stacks of folders as she places them on the desk. "I'm done though, so I think I'm gonna head home. Did you find whatever it was you were looking for?"

"No, but I think I'm gonna stay here and keep looking." Serena responds with a small smile. "You have a great rest of your night."

"You too." The brunette responds as she disappears out the door to retrieve her things from her own office.

Serena waits for a moment before she exhales a breath that she didn't know she was holding, and turns back to pick up the legal pad. She considers taking the entire pad for a moment but quickly decides against it as she decides that it's best to just tear of the pages that she needs in case Kim decided to return to inspect things. Serena isn't foolish, and she most certainly isn't as dumb as she often leads people to believe.

**1-6 Precinct **

"She was an irresponsible spoiled brat," Sasha Kessler spits irritably. "And she eventually paid for her irresponsibility with her life."

Amanda raises her eyebrows at the venom seeping from the young woman's voice as she speaks about her friend. "So you're saying, Rachel acted like this before?"

Sasha snorts humorlessly and folds her arms as she leans back in her chair. "Of course, she acted like this all the time. Her parents have money you know, and she used it to her advantage, hence my earlier statement 'spoiled brat'. She was reckless, and didn't listen to anyone who tried to rationalize with her."

"So, what do you remember from that night?' the detective asks calmly as she tries to prod into the mind of the younger woman.

Sasha runs her hands through her hair as she recalls the night that her best friend was presumably murdered. "It was her birthday. Rachel had just turned twenty seven and she was excited, and being her best friends, Mel and I were excited for her. We hung out all day, and basically bight nightfall, Rache was begging to go out on the partying scene, to a bar or something. It was her birthday, so what did Mel and I do? We agreed because it was what she wanted. So we went out, had a few drinks, laughed over a few stories. I wasn't sure if Rache was drunk or not, she was always amazing at taking her alcohol over the rest of us. Anyway, as we were sitting there, she complained about being exceptionally horny. To be honest, I could care less how horny she was, but because it was her birthday. After a while, I got so fed up with listening to her complain I suggested that she find someone to just have fun with for the night, god knows she was thinking it. I mean, Rachel was no stranger to one night stands, and I could tell that she was just itching to look for someone to sleep with, but she didn't want to say anything because she didn't want me or Melanie to think that she was just gonna ditch us like that, but I knew that she wanted to. The woman that she found…Mel and I tried to tell Rachel that she was too young for her, but she didn't listen. Hell, she never listened when we tried to tell her not to do something. She was just like that. Anyway, we tried to tell her not to leave with that woman. Something about her just seemed…well anyway, that was the last time the Mel or I talked to her, or saw her rather, until we saw on the news that she was killed. I…strangely, I can't say that I feel sorry for her…"

This spikes Amanda's attention, and she raises her eyebrows once more. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, it's her own fault that she's dead. She was my best friend, but shit, she never listened to anyone who tried to show her rationality. It was just ridiculous really. But there is no denying that she brought this on herself."

Meanwhile…

"She was such a good friend." Melanie Taylor cries uncontrollably as takes another tissue from Olivia's outstretched hand. "Sasha and I told her not to leave with that woman, but she just didn't listen! Oh god we tried Detective, but she really didn't listen."

Olivia purses her lips in sympathy of the girl for a small moment before she leans across the table, her tone soft and sympathetic. "I'm really sorry about the loss of your friend, but I need you to tell me what all happened at that bar. Was there anyone who spoke to Rachel? Anyone who tried to advanced on her that she may have brushed off? Anyone who may have been following her or even watching the three of you?"

Melanie dries her eyes and shakes her head vigorously. "No, no not that I can remember. I mean, Rachel flirted with the bartender, but she does that everywhere we go, bartenders, waitresses, the secretary at our hotel. She was just so flirtatious. She always has been such a flirt. Oh god, I can't believe she's gone."

The detective's heart goes out to the young woman, and she can't imagine what it would be like if she spontaneously lost her best friend just like that. "Thank you Melanie, you've been a big help." She states, deeming it time to conclude the interview and not put anymore strain on the girl.

"No, thank you Detective, I just want Rachel's killer be brought to justice. She really was a good girl you know." she sniffs as they exit the interview room.

Olivia watches as Melanie bids them one last good night and leaves with her friend Sasha. She turns her head towards Amanda who has joined her and musters a smile. "Well, that went surprisingly well."

The southern detective snorts and folds her arms tightly. "Easy for you to say. That Sasha girl was colder the underside of the chicken coop in the middle of winter."

Olivia stares blankly at the wall for a moment before she turns towards the blonde with a blank expression. "Call me crazy, but I could've sworn I hear Abbie say something like that once. With your colloquialisms, I've never been so glad to have been born upstate. But I digress, what do you mean she was cold?"

"I mean it's almost as if she didn't give a damn about Rachel's death. I mean pardon me, but I would be absolutely devastated if one of my best friends was murdered, but with Sasha, it's almost as if she didn't care. I found it to be a bit strange."

"Melanie was the exact opposite. I could hardly understand her what with all the crying that she was doing and all. She seemed like a real sweet girl though."

Amanda snorts humorlessly as they make their way back into the squad room, "Yeah, I wouldn't say the same for Sasha. Like I said, that girl just seemed off."

"Off how?" Liv questions, leaning against the side of her desk.

"Off in a way I'm sure it's gonna scare us when we figure her out…"

**Casey Novak's Apartment **

Casey closes her book and removes her reading glasses as a small sigh escapes her lips. Another night of trying, and failing to get Alex to eat something, or at least do something around the house…like get up and move around. But of course, she got nothing but a simple, "I'm fine, leave me be," and eventually, after hours of trying, Casey gave up.

She sits her book down beside her on the bed; the very same beg that she and Alex used to share at times. The very same bed that Casey would wake up alone in on several occasions. Closing her eyes, she shakes away the otherwise disdainful memory, and forces herself off the mattress.

Before she goes to bed, Casey decides that it's best that she check on Alex, no matter how much the blonde hates being approached lately. As she makes her way in to the guest bedroom, she pushes the door open, and is a little shocked to find the bed completely empty.

"Alex?" she calls out curiously as she steps in the room and finds literally no trace of Alex anywhere. "Alex, where are you?"

Casey found herself looking around, her apartment, but there was no trace of Alex anywhere, she wasn't in the living room, she wasn't in the kitchen, and she wasn't responding to anything either.

After another moment of looking, Casey makes her way back up the stairs and down the hall towards her guest bathroom. She notices the light is on, yet the door is shut tightly. Sighing, she softly knocks on the door. "Alex, are you in here?" she calls out.

Once she receives no response, a frown crosses Casey's face as she knocks on the door once again. Upon receiving no response for the second time, she opens the door and immediately gasps upon what she sees; the blonde sprawled out motionless on the floor.

"Oh my god!"

**Yup guys! It was Serena, strangely, I think only one or two of you suspected Serena but then immediately threw away the subject. Honestly, if it were me reading this, I probably would've guessed Alex's defense attorney, or even Melissa. Well, anyway, Leave your feedback! **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Oooo Sasha seemed suspicious to you did she? Lol. **

**Serena Southerlyn's Apartment **

Serena sighs as she walks into her apartment and immediately kicks off her heels by the door. She makes her way into the foyer, and through the living room, and nearly jumps out of her skin when she finds Olivia lounging comfortably on the couch.

"Jesus Babe, you scared me." the attorney gasps, placing her hand over her rapidly beating heart.

Olivia looks up away from the television and smiles at Serena who has now seemed to make herself comfortable. "Sorry sweetheart, didn't mean to scare you." she explains as she gets up and wraps her arms around her lover. "I missed you."

Serena can't help the moan that escapes her lips when she feels a pair of lips connect with her pulse point. "I missed you too…" she rasps out, becoming instantly turned on.

"Babe, can I ask you somethin'?"

"Mmm, anything…"

"What was Abbie's case file doing in your drawer?"

Serena's eyes widen and she immediately goes stiff. Her heart rate speeds up again when she sees Liv looking at her with a curious condescending expression. "Uh…" crap, why couldn't she have come up with a better explanation than that?

The detective raises her eyebrows and notices how Serena's eyes begin to dart around the room as if she is physically searching for an answer. "And I want the truth Serena."

Serena sighs and pulls out of her lover's embrace before she begins to vibrantly pace her living room. "I'm helping Alex, okay? She's my best friend Liv, and we've been best friends since we were kids. I can't let her go to prison because Abbie has decided she wants to be the bitch queen."

"Serena that's stealing, illegal, and corruption! Do you know what kind of trouble you could get into if you're caught?!"

"I know Olivia! I know all of that! I fucking thought all of this out before I did it and maybe you just don't understand, but I just…I can't let Alex go down like this, I just can't. I didn't know what to do."

Olivia sighs heavily and places her hands on her hips as she shakes her head, thinking of what to say next. "How much did you take…"

Serena falls silent for the longest of moments and runs her fingers through her hair before hanging her head. "Everything. Abbie literally has nothing. The police reports, her legal notes, I have everything."

"This is wrong Serena." The detective says calmly, though her tone is laced with something that the attorney can't exactly identify.

"I know it's wrong but baby, I didn't know what else to do! I couldn't just leave this alone." Serena exclaims, her voice dropping down to a sad whisper. "Are you going to tell…"

There is a deathly silence following the question, and Olivia still stands in her same position, her hands on her hips with her gaze angled at the floor. Finally finding her voice, she licks her lips and shakes her head. "I should, believe me I should. But I'm not. Just…don't do it again alright?"

Serena nods her head and walks into the detective's arms, taking to her favored spot on Olivia's shoulder. "I won't, but you have to admit, it was a smart idea. Have you and Amanda gotten anywhere with anyone?"

"Yeah actually. We interviewed a witness and Rachel's best friend, Sasha Kessler. She was real bitter about the whole ordeal. Amanda said that it was almost as if she was glad that Rachel was dead. I don't know why, but I feel like that she has something to do with the murder."

"That's sick, how could anyone do that to their so called 'best friend'?"

Olivia sighs quickly and gives a small shrug. "I don't know, but I've got a really bad feeling about her. I know I shouldn't ask to see this? But what all did you take from Abbie's office?"

A self satisfied smirk slowly appears on Serena's face as she takes the detectives hand leading her towards her bedroom. "Here, I'll show you."

"Casey!"

Casey stops her vibrant pacing of the hospital waiting room and turns her head where she sees Melissa followed by a teenager making their way towards her. She had called Melissa as soon as she had left the house, and she expected the eldest Cabot sister to be there just after they arrived.

"Oh my god, what happened? How is she?" Melissa asks, her voice showing general and severe concern for her sister.

"I don't know yet, the doctor hasn't come out and said anything. All I know is I found her passed out in the bathroom." Casey concludes, turning towards the teenager with a raised eyebrow. "I don't believe we've met."

Lauren manages a small smile and extends her hand towards Casey. "I'm Lauren. You must be Casey, Ali's talked about you."

Casey chuckles nervously and shakes Lauren's hand. "I'm sure she has." She mumbles before she sighs heavily. "Mel, I don't know what's wrong with her, she was just lying there, and she wasn't moving! I was so scared."

"Alex is a fighter, I'm sure that she's going to be fine." Melissa says calmly as she tries to keep her own emotional break down in check.

Before anyone can say anything else, a doctor steps into the waiting area and calls for the family of Alexandra Cabot. He gives the women a smile and shakes their hands in greeting. "Hello, I'm Dr. Daniels."

"Hello doctor, how is my sister?" Melissa asks wanting the man to cut right to the chase.

"Oh I can assure you that she is going to be fine. The cause of her feint was the fact that she was severely dehydrated and it seemed like she hadn't eaten in a while." He explains calmly.

"She hasn't eaten in a few days." Casey speaks up with a shake of her head. "I tried to get her to eat, but she refused. She said that she was fine, and she wasn't going to let me continue to argue with her."

"Well that played a major key factor in why she passed out. Anyway, Miss Cabot's blood sugar was also supremely low, but we have given her something that should take care of that, as well iron for her Anemia. In addition, she has a slight concussion due to her fall, but it's nothing major. Which brings me to, we found remnants of an anxiolytic in her system, is that normal?"

At this Melissa nods and runs a shaky hand through her hair. "Yes it is, she takes anti-anxiety medication because she's prone to anxiety attacks."

Dr. Daniels nods and scribbles something down on his keyboard. "Right, well, she should be perfectly fine, but we're going to keep her here for a couple more hours of observation. I see no reason that she can't go home tonight. Though, I must say, that someone needs to make sure that she eats regularly."

Casey nods and heaves a great sigh of relief as she realizes that Alex is going to be fine. "I'll make sure of that. Can we see her?"

"Oh yes, of course! She's wide awake and I can assure you, very cranky."

Lauren snorts as they begin following the doctor down the hallway. "That's normal for Alex. She's always cranky."

The three enter a room where they see Alex propped against the pillows of the bed with her arms folded and her eyes screwed shut tightly. She doesn't open them until she hears the sound of the door clicking shut, and her steely gaze immediately falls on Melissa. Great, because this is just what she needed as a wake up call.

"What are you doing here?" she asks venomously, ignoring the presence of Casey or Lauren.

Melissa keeps the hurt from flashing across her face, and she shakes her head in disbelief. "If you're going to be like this, then I'll just wait outside." She murmurs as she makes her way to the door. "Sorry for caring."

Casey stares after the older woman before she turns back to Alex with a sigh. "Alex, did you really need to…"

"I'm fine Casey, let it go. I just want to get out of here." Alex snaps, her tone softening when she realizes that she's being too harsh on the two people that she actually likes in the room. "I'm sorry, you should have known bringing her was a mistake."

Before Casey responds, Lauren takes this as a small initiative to speak up. "Ali, why are you so harsh with Melissa? She's just trying to help."

Alex closes her eyes and wills away the dull throbbing in her head. "You're too young to understand Lauren."

Lauren opens her mouth to respond, but she settles on just folding her arms and shaking her head. "It's childish." She murmurs, as she retreats to a chair in the corner of the room.

"How are you feeling?" Casey asks softly, feeling the slightest bit uncomfortable because of the tension between the sisters in the room and also the one waiting outside the door.

"I feel like I got bashed in the head with a two by four, but other than that, I'm really tired, and I would just like to go home and sleep. Wherever home is…" the blonde attorney concludes with a mumble.

Casey gives Alex a look before she turns her head towards the youngest Cabot. "Lauren, would you give us a minute?"

Lauren nods and stands form her chair as she moves to join her eldest sister outside of the hospital room, leaving Alex and Casey to talk about whatever it is that they so desperately need to talk about.

Casey moves to the side of the hospital bed, and takes one of Alex's slightly cold hands in one of her own. "Alex, I need you to be honest with me, did you try something in that bathroom?"

Alex narrows her eyes briefly as she tries to figure out what it is that the redhead means by 'try something'. Just then, her mouth forms into a perfect 'O' and her eyes widen. "No Casey, of course not! Why would you think that I would try to kill myself?"

"Because you've been so depressed and closed off! I didn't know if you were just so done with everything that you just wanted to end all of it!"

"No Casey, I wouldn't kill myself. I just haven't had an appetite, and that combined with my medication, just didn't make for a good combination I guess. I'm really sorry that I scared you." Alex murmurs softly, her whole body starting to tingle from where Casey is holding her hand.

Casey sighs and cautiously brings the blonde's hand to her lips. "Just don't ever do it again." She whispers before placing a soft kiss on said hand. "I love you too much, and I can't think of what I would do if I ever lost you."

Alex takes her hand away and looks at Casey with a shocked expression. "You…you said you love me."

"I do love you Alex, I swear that I do." Casey pleads as her heart begins to open up on this own. "You scared me, and I didn't know what had happened to you. I-I don't think that I can live without you if something ever happened to you. I just…god Alex, I love you."

"How can you actually mean it?" Alex asks softly. "How could you love a killer?"

"Alex, sweetheart, you aren't a killer, okay? I'm going to be with you every step of the way and we are going to fight this together, okay? I love you and only you for who you are, not for what people may or may not think you are."

**I guess that little sweet moment up there was kinda me making up for what I spontaneously did on OTOS. My bad for being plenty evil, but damn it, they said I love you over here! Anyway, leave your feedback! **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: This chapter came out much longer than I had foreseen. Anyway, I know that you guys like long chapters so here it is.**

Alex tucks her feet further underneath her, and she snuggles closer into Casey's side as they listen to the pitter patter of the rain outdoors. She finds it completely ironic that the dreary weather outside matches her mood, but she is thankful that she has Casey to keep her warm.

"Al, are you sure you don't want me to get you a blanket?" Casey asks as she shifts her arms around the blonde once more.

Alex hums and shakes her head before sighing contently. "Nope, I have all the warmth that I need right here."

Casey chuckles and rests her chin on Alex's head. "You're adorable." She purrs before sighing contently herself. If she could stay like this all day everyday she most definitely would with absolutely no problems.

Their comfortable atmosphere is broken, however, by a swift knock at the front door. With a long drawn out groan, Casey reluctantly detangles herself from her newly reconciled lover and hesitantly slinks her way to the door. Before she even reaches it, the knocking continues, and it only succeeds in aggravating her mood even further. She has to refrain herself from shouting through the door to tell them to wait but as soon as she opens the door, she is very thankful that she kept her mouth shut.

Swallowing thickly, Casey puts on her best smile, even as she realizes that she's clutching her door in a vise grip. "M-Mrs. Cabot, what a surprise."

Veronica Cabot stares at the red haired woman at the door through narrowed eyes, and a smile doesn't appear on her features in the slightest; not even a little one. She's clutching a pointy black umbrella in her hand, and her winter coat is slightly damp from the rain outside.

"Yes, well, we all know that I am definitely one for surprises right?" Veronica states in a monotone manner as Casey allows her to step inside and take her coat. "I assume that you know why I am here?"

"Oh, yes ma'am, yes ma'am, you're here to see Alex?" Casey replies, only a slight questioning tone at the end of her statement. She sighs in relief when Veronica just looks at her, but doesn't proceed to say anything. She's been around Alex's mother long enough to know that you're going to be much better off if you keep the conversation time to a bare minimum.

It isn't that Casey doesn't like Alex's mother, and surprisingly isn't that Alex's mother doesn't like her; it's just the fact that Veronica Cabot is a very scary lady. When she walks, she practically bleeds power and pride, and is constantly surrounded by an aurora that sends out the clear message of 'you better not get in my way' and 'I can buy you and sell you twice'.

Alex is about to get off of the sofa and follow Casey to the door to see who was knocking, when she sees her mother step into the living room, followed by a very uncomfortable looking redhead. Oh no.

"M-mom? What're you…what're you doing here?" Alex stutters, unable to mask her surprise upon seeing her Mom.

Veronica makes no move from where she is standing, nor does a warming smile (or any emotion) for that manner, appear on her face. Instead, all she does is speak in her typical steely, flat, and cold tone. "I've come to speak with you."

Alex wraps her arms around herself in an involuntarily defensive manner, and her eyes shoot to Casey silently telling her that it's okay. "Um, Casey, would you mind?"

"Oh, no, not at all. I'll just…Mrs. Cabot, can I get you anything?"

"No dear, I'm fine…"

"Great, then um, I guess I'll just…be upstairs. I have to make an uh, phone call." Casey stutters as she makes her way up the stairs knowing good and well that she doesn't have a phone call that she needs to make.

There is a heavy silence between the two Cabot women as Veronica moves across the living room and sits on the edge of the sofa next to her daughter. Neither women say anything, nor do they even look at each other, as the tension continues to build in layers.

Veronica glances at the coffee table before she leans forwards and picks up the newspaper that was lying there. She stares at one of the leading headlines for the longest moments before she holds it up. "What is this…"

Alex snorts humorlessly and wraps her arms tighter around herself even as she and her mother still don't make any sort of eye contact. "Don't be ridiculous Mom; you know exactly what that is."

"No, I mean why is this all about…Explain this to me." Veronica says flatly, her tone going into the typical 'don't give me bullshit'.

With another sigh, Alex hangs her head as she rakes her fingers through her hair. She can feel her mother's eyes on her and she risks looking up into the steely blue eyes that match her own. "I don't know Mom, I really don't know."

"YOU DON'T KNO-" the elder Cabot has to pause herself as she told her self on the way over that she wasn't going to raise her voice; at least, not right away. "-you don't know? How could you possibly not know? Your face, and family name is all over the news; all over the news, all over the television, all over the internet, in the papers, it's everywhere Alexandra!"

"I know okay?! I know all of that already, and believe me when I say that no one is more ashamed of it than I am."

"Are you sure?"

Alex snaps her mouth shut at hearing the rhetorical question and she knows exactly where this conversation is leading. How she's an embarrassment to the Cabot name, how everyone is going to think that they suddenly can just walk all over the family. She chooses not to respond because she knows that her mother is just going to give that speech that she really doesn't want to hear.

She gets off of the couch and begins to vibrantly pace the living room, suddenly having enough of her mother's lecture before it can even fully begin. "Mom, I am a grown woman, and I'm really not going to sit here and listen to you tell me what to do."

"_Sit __**down**_, Alexandra." Veronica says firmly, which in turn causes the attorney to comply and quickly return to the couch. "Despite the fact that you are a grown woman, you are still my daughter, and I am still your mother, and you WILL treat me with respect, is that understood?"

"Stop treating my like a chi-"

"Is that _UNDERSTOOD_?"

Alex snaps her mouth shut once again and tightly folds her arms, all the while staring straight forward. "…yes ma'am."

Veronica sighs disapprovingly before she shakes her head. "Honestly, I do not get this much from neither Melissa nor Lauren, and Lauren is nearly twenty years younger than you are."

"Yeah well, neither of them are the neglected child stuck in the middle."

"YOU were never once neglected, and don't you even begin to say that you were. Have I not given you everything that you have ever wanted if not more? And THIS is how you repay me? By going out, getting naked with some stranger, then ended up on the news for rape and murder? Tell me, what have I done? What was it I did that made you this way?"

"Mom, you've known I was a lesbian since I was in high school."

Veronica groans and pinches the bridge of her nose at the statement. "Alexandra, this is not about you being a lesbian. I could honestly care less that you are a lesbian, because you are my daughter and it does not matter. This is about how reckless you have become. It says that this girl was twenty seven; _TWENTY SEVEN_ Alexandra. Did you even know her?!"

"No Mom, no I didn't." Alex shamefully admits. "I was upset okay? Things were going on, and I needed some sort of out, and I found my out. You honestly can't say that you believe that I did this!"

"I don't know what to believe!" the older woman shouts. "I don't know what to believe with you anymore! You have become this entirely different person, and I feel like I don't know my own child anymore, but at the same time, you haven't changed. Not in the way that you treat you family."

Alex's anger flares, and she stands up to where she is standing, face to face, nose to nose, with her mother. "You're just too ashamed to admit that you're wrong, that's what this is about. You're not here because you care; you're here because you're embarrassed."

Veronica scoffs and rolls her eyes at the accusing statement. "Alexandra, don't. You're being ridiculous."

"I am NOT being ridiculous! When are you going to admit that you've never loved me?!"

"When are _you_ going to admit that you were always trying to push me away!?"

"Is everything alright?" Casey asks curiously from the top of the stairs. She was trying not to listen to the private conversation, but she couldn't help it when she started to here yelling.

Blue eyes stare intently and coldly into each other before Veronica rips her gaze away and shakes her head towards the floor.

"Everything is fine dear. I believe that I must be going." She says with out one last look at her daughter's angry eyes.

Casey reluctantly makes her way down the stairs to see Veronica out. She bids goodbyes to the older woman, before she makes her way back into the living room and finds Alex in the same position she was in before, completely rigid and unmoving.

"Alex, what was that? Are you alright?" she asks, wrapping her arms around the tense blonde's waist.

Alex closes her eyes and takes several deep breaths as she leans into her lover's embrace. "Yeah…" she mumbles, her voice small and only slightly void of any emotion. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Casey hums and leans again giving Alex a slight kiss on the cheek. "Listen, I have a few errands that I need to run a little later, are you okay staying here by yourself?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I think I need a little bit of time alone anyway." The blonde replies shakily.

"Promise you'll eat something. Order takeout or anything."

"I promise I'll eat, and I promise I'll be fine. I just…I just need something thinking time."

**Later That Evening **

Serena gnaws mercilessly on the end of her pen as she carefully reads through another page of Abbie's notes, picking apart anything and everything that she deems could eventually be useful to her. She picks up a red pen and does some underlining before she picks up a green pen and makes circles around a few words.

With a small sigh, she goes back to chewing the end of her pen as she continues to read through the notes. Honestly, she still can't get over the conversation that she had with Olivia a few nights ago, and how the detective had agreed not to say anything. Well, except to Amanda, but she doesn't count since she's in on it too. All she knows is that her missions were a success, and Abbie pretty much has absolutely nothing; t least, not anything paperwork wise.

A knock at her door startles her out of musings and she immediately begins to shove all of the paperwork back into their designated folders. "Just a minute!" she calls out as she looks around for a moment before she settles on stuffing the folders underneath one of the couch cushions.

Composing herself, Serena makes her way to the door, and opens it, smiling when she sees that it's only Casey standing on the other side. "Hey Case! What brings you by?"

Casey returns Serena's smile and follows her into the living room where she plops down on the couch. "You grew up with Alex right?"

"Uh oh, I'm not sure I like where this is going." Serena chuckles as she returns to her original spot on the sofa, scanning the coffee table to make sure that she hasn't left remnants of anything that may potentially look suspicious to the red haired attorney.

"No, no, it's nothing bad or anything. It's just, I was just wondering was her mother always so…the way she is, and what Alex's problem with Melissa is." Casey muses with a small shrug of her shoulders.

Serena chuckles and absentmindedly twirls a strand of her golden hair around her finger. "Ah, what isn't her problem with Melissa? Alex is just…she likes to do things by herself, and she was like that even when we were kids. But of course, being the baby sister, and in her mother's absence, she kind of had to depend on Melissa for almost things, and if you know Alex, she HATED that. She wanted to act like the grown up that she wasn't and I guess that she's always despised her older sister because she felt like Melissa was looking down on her; which I'm positive that she wasn't but you know how Alex is. Anyway, because of the age difference between her and Lauren, Alex really never got the chance to feel like the older sister, and I would guess that's what she's wanted."

Casey groans and covers her eyes as she shakes her head. "She is so vain, that she's shoving her sister away, and today I think she even accused her mother of never loving her."

"I can see how she would think that, her mother was gone a lot and her father…well…he's a very complicated story that I really have no business explaining."

"Did he pass away?"

"No, no nothing like that. Just know that after Lauren was born, he isn't exactly around. Anyway, my mother, and Alex's mother were best friends, and Alex and Melissa would stay over with us a lot. That's how Alex and I came to know each other, and we've been best friends ever since!"

Casey smiles at the conclusion of Serena's story. "That's cool. I just wish that Alex would let Melissa in, ya know? I mean, I can tell that she really wants to help but being who she is, Alex won't let her. You know she threw a fit when Melissa paid her bail? Where else was I supposed to find two million dollars!?"

Serena chuckles and gives an absentminded waft of her hand. "Like I said, you know how Alex is. Vanity and pride flows through her veins instead of blood. Speaking of which, does Alex know that Abbie is forcing you to testify?"

Upon hearing the question, all of the color drains from Casey's face and she covers her eyes once again. "Ugh, know! I couldn't tell her, it'll destroy her, and she needs me right now. I'm just hoping that we'll find a way out of this before there's a trial. I can't imagine how that prepping session is going to go, Abbie knows for a fact that I'm probably not willing to cooperate."

"Eh, it's best that you don't fight her so it'll be over as soon as possible." The blonde says shrugging. "Just call her and let her know when you wanna do it if you just wanna get it over with. Don't call her right now though. She's on a date with Kim, and I promise you you're not gonna get an answer."

Casey raises her eyebrows in interest and she hides the smirk that wants to spread across her face. "She's on a date, eh? At what restaurant?"

Serena's eyes briefly dart around the room before she shrugs. "I dunno." She lies, not knowing why Casey wants to know what restaurant, but she'd rather not tell her.

"You're lying Serena. You know. What restaurant?" Casey asks again, this time a smirk appearing on her face as the plan comes together in her head.

"I already told you that I didn't know. Why are you asking?"

"Because I just wanna know. Tell me."

Serena shakes her head and pretends to zip her mouth before locking it with a pretend key.

Casey rolls her eyes at the childish motion and smirks even wider when she has an idea. Oh she knows just how to get under Serena's skin, she's seen Alex do it numerous of times, and she plans on using it to her advantage if need be. "Tell me, or I'll tickle you."

Serena's eyes widen and she realizes that Casey is being deadly serious with her threat. Ever since she was a child, she has been extremely ticklish, and nothing has changed about that little fact ever since. Deciding to take a chance, and call the redhead's hopefully bluff, she shakes her head again and keeps her mouth shut tight.

"Don't say that I didn't warn you." Casey teases before she lunges across the couch and immediately begins tickling the blonde's sides. "Tell me."

"N-n-no!" Serena forces out through her fits of hysterical giggles. She's determined to hold out for as long as she can, but the tickle torture is quickly coming more than she can handle.

"Tell me Serena!"

"N-no! I won't!"

"Fine." Casey huffs as she moves one of her hands down towards the squirming attorney's feet. "Tell me…"

Serena's eyes widen as she realizes that she can't hold on, and she won't hold on if Casey starts tickling her feet. That simply isn't a torture she refuses to go through. "Alright, alright! I'll tell you. She went to that fancy gourmet restaurant on fifth and Evan's. You know, the one over in that high end district?"

"Yeah, I know exactly which one you're talking about." Casey snickers as she finally releases her hold on the panting blonde. "Thanks Rena."

Serena sits up as she tries to compose herself once again by combing her fingers through her slightly mused hair. "Why did you want to know anyway?"

"Because I'm about to be the world's biggest cock block."

**A Little Later **

Casey skillfully applies her lipstick as she gazes at her reflection in the little handheld mirror in her palm. She makes sure that it's applied perfectly before she closes the mirror and drops it in the glove compartment on her car. Humming to herself, she gets out of the car, and smoothes her dress that she had to run home and change into before she could go out and do what it is that she needs to do.

Oh what an interesting conversation with Alex that was. She just simply told the curious blonde that she was meeting a friend somewhere for dinner, which she technically is, so it isn't exactly a lie.

She slings her coat over her arm as she enters the restaurant and is immediately approached by one of the hostesses.

"Do you have a reservation ma'am?" the young girl asks nicely, giving the attorney a welcoming smile.

"No, no, actually I am meeting a friend who is already here, would you mind if I look around?" Casey responds, returning the girl's smile.

"Oh no ma'am, please, go right a head." The hostess says holding out her hand.

Casey nods her thanks to the girl before she inconspicuously makes her way to the restaurant scanning through the sea of strangers dressed similar to she is enjoying their dinner. She makes her way to another section of the restaurant, and smirks when she spots just the two people she was looking for. She has to remind herself to apologize to Kim later for this.

"Oh look isn't this a lovely surprise Abbie!" she coos cheerfully, having to try exceptionally hard when she sees that she's physically startled the dark haired woman out of her flirtatious banter. "Mind if I join you?" she questions, self rhetorically as she pulls up a chair and then proceeds to make her self comfortable. "Hi Kim how are you! Might I say that you look _exceptionally_ gorgeous this fine evening?"

"Um…thank you." Kim responds chuckling nervously, curious as to the redhead's sudden appearance at their table. She could've sworn Abbie said dinner for two, not three.

Abbie clears her throat harshly and glares daggers into the new found disturbance in her night. "Excuse me…" she grumbles darkly.

Casey turns her head towards Abbie and gives her a smile. "Oh right, where are my manners? You look okay."

Abbie narrows her eyes and silently wishes that Casey would just disappear. "What a surprise this is. What are you doing here?"

"Oh you know, I was just out, and I thought I'd have a nice dinner, then I saw the two of you and thought, hey, what better to enjoy dinner than with friends right?"

Casey smirks as she watches Abbie mutter something to herself as she begins to pick up her menu. She waits until she is sure that the brunette is reading it, before she takes it upon herself to snatch it away and look at it herself. "So, have you two ordered yet?"

Abbie scowls as she watches her menu literally be ripped away from her, and she slams her fist down on the table, disturbing the unused silverware on the table, and startling Kim who is now glancing at her own menu. "No…no we haven't." she forces out darkly and angrily through grit teeth.

"Oh perfect then I'm just in time then!" Casey beams excitedly as she scans the rather expensive side of the menu. "So Kim, what is it that you feel like having tonight?"

The younger attorney hums to herself as she scans her own menu. "Hm, I don't know. I really am feeling like fish now that I think about it. What about you?"

"Oh fish, that is a lovely choice. Let me tell you, this restaurant has _the best_ rainbow trout. I'm telling you that it is to die for." Casey gushes as she blatantly ignores the pair of eyes boring into her skull. "I think that I'm personally feeling like a nice grilled steak tonight. Steak is their specialty here you know."

"Really? That's fascinating. I've never been to a restaurant that specials in a specific meat before. What else would you recommend?"

"How about the 'get lost' platter…" Abbie mumbles just low enough for Casey to hear her.

Casey hears the comment clear as day, but ever to keep her cool, she doesn't react to it, but simply stops a passing waiter. "Excuse me waiter? Can you please bring us a kids menu for my friend here?" she asks gesturing to the angry brunette. "You see, she really likes to color the little pictures on the pages, but she's a little grumpy because she can't do that with the adult menu."

The waiter raises his eyebrows at the group for a moment before he nods his head in comprehension. "Yes ma'am, of course."

Casey smirks to herself as she goes back to reading her menu. Out of her peripheral vision, she can see Abbie blushing the color of a fire engine, and Kim with her hand over her mouth, succeeding in keeping her giggles withheld.

Their waiter soon returns and places the children's menu down on the table, jumping in slight fear, when the brunette swiftly knocks it off the table without saying a single word. "Uh, right, are we ready to order ladies?"

The three order their meals for the night, and Casey has made sure that she ordered the most expensive thing on the menu. She has a plan for the end of the night, and she can't wait to see it unfold.

**Okay, I'm just going to be honest here and say like the last thousand words or so of this chapter, was by FAR my favorite. Lol. Leave your feedback? **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Keep your tissues on standby for this chapter. I'm dead serious. Do it. Especially if you are a crier. **

**Trigger Warning: Dark themes ahead. **

"Oh my god, that's hysterical! So what happened next?"

"So I told him for probably the fifth time that I was seeing someone, a WOMAN, and then you know what he does? He then proceeds to follow me around the store asking for my phone number. Then I pulled my ADA badge and told him I'd have him for sexual harassment if he didn't get lost. You should have seen his face, it was amazing."

Abbie narrows her eyes and rests her head in her hand as Kim and Casey share a hearty laugh over Casey's story. Honestly, since their food arrived, it's like she's not even there! And this is her date! What hell?!

"Abbie, are you alright? You've been rather quiet…" Kim asks concernedly as she tilts her head.

"No I'm fine." The dark haired woman responds with a forced smile as she stops their waiter. "Excuse me can I have the check please?"

"Oh yes, certainly ma'am, is it all going to be on one ticket?"

"Um, no it's act-"

"Yes it's all on one ticket." Casey cuts in quickly speaking over Abbie.

"I'll have that right out then." He gives them a smile before he tends to the rest of his waiting duties.

A well placed smirk forms across Casey's face as she strikes up another conversation with Kim, yet she can see the death glare that she's receiving from Abbie. It's absolutely perfect, and she has to maintain a straight face, and keep conversation as she watches the waiter return with the check.

"Here you are ma'am." He says nicely before handing Abbie the check.

"Thank you…" Abbie mutters in response, her eyes widening to the size of baseballs when she sees the bill. "CASEY WHAT THE HELL?!"

Casey takes a moment to keep her composure before she puts on a serious face. "What? You said you'd pay?"

"I NEVER said that! This bill is over-"

"You said you'd pay!"

"I am NOT paying for-"

"Abbie it's only polite that you pay if you said you would." Kim speaks up breaking into the dispute.

Abbie's jaw practically hits the table as she stares at the bill again. "But have you seen…look at this!"

"And if you said that you'd pay, it is only fair that you do…"

With a long drawn out sigh, the elder attorney sits back in her chair before slamming her credit card on the table, picking up the bill, and thrusting it at the waiter. "Here…"

"Thank you Abbie, that's very nice of you." Casey says sweetly, putting on a sickly sweet faux smile.

"Yeah whatever…"

By the end of the night, Abbie is completely fuming and it amuses Casey to no end. "It really was a lovely dinner wasn't it?"

"A hundred and twelve dollars…" Abbie continues to mumble to herself as they make their way out of the restaurant. "Uh, Kim, you can head on to the car, I would like to have a word with Casey."

Kim eyes the two of them curiously before she accepts the car keys being held out to her and nods her understanding leaving the two to discuss whatever it is they need to discuss.

Abbie runs her hands through her hair before she turns to Casey with a stony expression. "Okay look, I get that you're upset with me, but what you just did…Casey it was unnecessary."

"Just like how it's completely necessary for you to put me on the stand for Alex's case?" Casey retorts sharply with a raised eyebrow.

"I knew that's what this was about. If you were that upset you could have come and talked to me. You didn't need to be childish about it and completely humiliate me in front of my date _and several _waiters mind you."

"Whatever. Does that woman there know that the only reason that you took her to dinner was because you wanted to sleep with her?"

"That's not true and you know it. And even if that had been my intention, it's all out he window now, no thanks to you. Look," Abbie pauses as she calms herself and pinches the bridge of her nose. "I've been doing some thinking alright? A lot of thinking about this case, about Alex, and about our friendship. Can you come by my office tomorrow? So we can talk?"

Casey folds her arms tightly and casts her gaze down to the cracks in the cement. "Fine. What time?"

"I have meetings all morning, how about right at noon?"

"Great I'll be there."

The two women part ways when Abbie stops and turns around to give a last minute thought. "Oh, and Case?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell Alex to hang in there. It'll all get better."

Casey nods and gives Abbie the smallest of smiles before she makes her way back to her own car. She doesn't know what it was, but she saw just a sliver of compassion in Abbie's eyes in their last conversation. A compassion that she hadn't seen in weeks. Especially after she spent eighty dollars on a steak dinner she hadn't planned on buying.

**Meanwhile…**

"Is there a reason that you called me to sit out here in the freezing cold at the park with you." Melissa asks as she glances at her otherwise silent sister on her right. She waits for a moment and when Alex doesn't look at her she turns slightly on the bench and speaks firmly. "Alexandra if you've called me out here just to sit there and ignore me I'm going to go home."

Alex still doesn't say a word; instead, she takes a deep breath as the words of what she wants to say flutter around in her mind like a thousand tiny little butterflies. She gazes up in the sky and despite the cloud coverage and the city lights, she can still see the faintest speckle of stars.

"Do you ever wonder how many stars there are in the sky at a time?" she asks, her voice breezy, calm, and quiet.

Melissa narrows her eyes and raises both of her eyebrows in curious suspicion. "What the hell are you talking about?" she asks, wondering if her little sister has gone completely nuts."

"The stars." Alex repeats, this time pointing her finger towards the sky. "Do you ever wonder if there are billions and billions of stars visible in the night sky, but we just can't see them because of the lights and the clouds? If there were no lights, and no clouds, I bet there would be millions of stars in the sky."

"…I'm sitting here freezing my ass off and you're talking about the damn stars…" Melissa deadpans wrapping her jacket tighter around her body. "Listen Alex, please tell me why you called and asked for me to meet you here. It's fairly late, it's cold, and I have a teenager at my house that will literally eat me out of house and home, especially if I am not there. What is this about?"

Alex is silent for another moment before she looks away from the sky and turns towards her sister with shameful tears glistening in her eyes. "Our father raped me." she says, her words coming out not as firm or as confident as she had hoped and she can tell that for Melissa, her words are slowly beginning to sink in.

Melissa sits completely frozen as if she had looked the mythical creature known as Medusa square in the eye and was then turned to complete stone. Her sister's words made her throat go completely dry, and it's as if all of the oxygen was sucked right away from her body. After what feels like forever, her mouth falls open, but the words just don't seem to come out.

"W-what…?" she croaks, her own words coming out as a strangled whisper as if what she had just heard is a complete lie. "Alex I-…when?"

Alex sighs and turns away from the sad steely blue eyes that are replicating her own. She has kept the secret bottled up so long, she finally felt like that she needed to tell someone, to open up about it, and for some same reason, Melissa seemed like the person that she needed to go to. "Until I was seventeen. He started when I was six…." She admits shamefully, cursing herself as her tears begin to fall.

"Ali, why…why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you tell me? Or Mom?"

"Would you have believed me if I had? You know that Mom was never around, and what would you have done Melissa? Honestly? It's not like Mom would have believed either of us. It doesn't matter anyway, he said that he'd hurt you if I told anyone. He said that he'd hurt you, and Mom, and that there's was nothing that would be able to stop him from doing so if I told anyone."

Melissa shakes her head and turns so that she is completely facing her sister. She doesn't give a damn about the cold anymore even as a chilling breezes comes through, blowing their hair in every which direction. "When you were six? Alex that's…that's a long time."

Alex wipes her eyes and chuckles though it is neither humorous nor humorless; it's just simply saddening. "Yeah well, I guess he just fell into a habit. It was almost my seventh birthday, and he came into my room one of the nights before. He told me…he told me that I was special; that I was prettiest and I was his princess and that princesses deserved to be loved the right way. He then told me stories of pretty princesses and how their daddies would love them. Then he told me to lie down and…and I did. That was the first time that he touched me. When he did, it felt strange, but I was six, I really didn't know any better. Then he told me that he was going to show me how daddies were really supposed to love their little girls. How that he never loved you like he was going to love me. Oh god, it hurt so much, but he kept his hand over my mouth and he told me that in time it would stop hurting; that I would get used to it, get used to him."

"Alex…you should have told someone. He was hurting you! Mom and I would have done something we would've…she would have left him, you know she would have!"

"No we don't know that Melissa, we don't. And if she had left him, we wouldn't have Lauren. And I told you, I was little, I was scared, and I didn't know what to do. When you're that age, and your rapist threatens you not to tell anyone, you do what they tell you. Even as I got older, I began to realize what he was doing to me was wrong but what was I supposed to do? I still too scared to tell anyone, too ashamed. If I tried to fight him, he'd hit me, hard, but he made sure to do it in a place where no one would see the bruises. Once when I tried to fight him off when I was twelve, he broke my arm."

Melissa's face contorts into a frown, and her scowl begins to deepen as she begins to put two and two together. "Was that the time that you fell off your bike, and broke your arm?"

A sad smile flits across Alex's lips and she nods as she just barely glances at her sister out of the corner of her eye. "Y-yeah. That's what he said that he was going to tell Mom, and it was a believable story. Oh god Mel, his hands…they were so cold, and sometimes I can even still feel them on me. There are times when I can't even let Casey touch me, let alone have sex with her, because his phantom is still there. That's why…that's why I'm the way I am around you."

"I don't understand. How does that have to do with me?"

"You weren't there when he was hurting me! I screamed for you Melissa! I screamed for you, and I screamed for Mom, but you weren't there. You promised that you'd protect me because you were my big sister despite how we didn't get along. I know that it's my own fault for not saying anything, I know that _now_, but as a kid I didn't. All I knew is that I was scared, I was hurting, and you weren't there like you said you would be."

Melissa finds herself blinking away her own tears as she comes to terms with what she's just been told. Of all of the things that she's imagined Alex resenting her for, this was most definitely not one of them. Never in her wildest nightmares could she have imagined that something like this had happened to Alex; and because of their own father. She just has no idea what to think.

She moves across the bench and wraps her arms around her sobbing sister, thankful that the younger woman doesn't pull away. "Oh Ali, I-I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry that I wasn't there for you and I'm sorry that he hurt you like he did. Oh god I wish you had told someone. Does Casey know?"

"Oh god, no. I can't tell her something like this." Alex chokes out as she leans into her sister's warm embrace. "She'll think I'm disgusting, and I can't bear to have her leave me now, I just…I can't tell her."

"Sweetheart, the last thing she will think you are is disgusting."

"She'll look at me like I'm one of our victims Mel; I can't let her do that. I only told you because I couldn't keep it in any longer. I needed to tell someone, and I'm trusting you to keep this only between the two of us."

Melissa purses her lips and gives a light push on Alex's shoulder, beckoning for the younger blonde to look at her. "But…what about Mom? I think that she really needs to know…"

Alex's eyes widen and she shakes her head vigorously. "I-I can't tell her either. I can't…"

"Alex, you have to. She's our mother."

"So?! She already doesn't love me and she's already disgusted with me, why would I give her more reason to amplify that?! Promise me you won't tell her."

"But Al-"

"PROMISE me Melissa…"

"…I promise."

**I told you guys…dark themes were ahead. At least it kinda makes sense to you guys now why Alex is sorta bitter…**

**Also, if you see that it looks like Dangerous Collisions has been updated, it's not a joke. It has, and there's a reason for that, so head on over there and read the epilogue! **

**Anyway, leave your feedback? **

**Also, before I end this chapter, I just thought I'd share this little fun fact. Between all of us, one of our most favorite people in the history of like **_**EVER**_**, has a birthday today! Hehehe ten points if you guess who it is ;) **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Last chapter made me sad…I mean it. I was sad. Anyway, happy readings!**

Casey returns home that night surprised to find Alex still awake. She lingers for a moment as she watches the blonde sitting on the couch, staring wide eyed at nothing. It takes her a minute, but she soon realizes that Alex has tears flowing down her face, and they aren't just small tears either, they're flowing and they're consistent.

"Al, what's wrong?" Casey asks concernedly as she hangs up her coat and quickly makes her way over to the couch. She takes a seat, and she notices that Alex hasn't even budged from her prior position. Placing her hand on Alex's shoulder, she then gives it a slight shake to draw her attention. "Al?"

Alex is startled from her thoughts when she feels someone shaking her shoulder. Involuntarily flinching away from the touch, she begins to internally panic until she realizes that it's only Casey and not the man who had been occupying her thoughts only a few seconds prior. "H-hey. I'm sorry, I was just…thinking."

"What were you thinking about?" Casey questions quietly as she wipes away some of the painful tears with her index finger. "Why are you crying?"

With a shake of her head, Alex forces herself to smile as she moves to wipe her own eyes. Truth be told, she hadn't noticed that she had been crying at all, and she wonders if she has been crying ever since she parted ways with Melissa. "It's not an issue, please don't worry about it."

"But Al, I love you, and if you're hurting, I want you to tell me so I can help fix whatever it is. Please, don't close me out." Casey all but begs as she knows for a fact that these aren't just 'just because' tears.

"No, Casey, it's fine. Really, I'm fine and it's nothing." Alex proceeds. She is sticking by her word and she has absolutely no intentions of sharing the nightmares that were her childhood with Casey. She just can't bring herself to do so. Despite Melissa's encouragements, Alex knows that she can't even tell her own mother about this.

Casey is silent for a moment as she analyzes the woman next to her. She's been around Alex long enough to be able to sense when something is wrong; and something is most definitely wrong. But at the same time, she knows how Alex has that tendency to close people out, but right now really isn't the time for that.

"If it were nothing, you wouldn't be sitting here spacing out and crying on my couch. Listen, I know that you have problems with talking about certain things, especially when it comes to your feelings, but I'm telling you that it's okay to show that you're hurting sometimes, and it's okay to show that you're feelings something. It only shows that you're human. Please don't close me out Alex, I want to be here for you, but I can't do that if you won't let me. You shove your family away; please don't do that to me."

"You don't understand." Alex whispers as she hands her head and wraps her arms around herself in the same defensive manner that she developed as a child. "You can't understand."

Casey sighs and runs her hands through her hair in emotional frustration. "Then help me understand."

"You can't understand! And frankly, I don't think I want you to. I told you that I'm fine Casey; please just leave it alone. It's not a big deal, and you're making it out to be something bigger than it is. I'm going on trial for a crime that I did not commit, I think that's enough to have me upset."

"Alex, I'm not stupid, something else is bothering you. You just can't pin everything that's going on with you on this one case. And you can't just shut me out like this."

"Watch me." Alex mutters as she stands up from the sofa and proceeds to make her way up the stairs. The last thing that she wants to do is have an unnecessary argument with the woman she's in love with, and she knows that the longer they talk, the more of a chance there is that she'll end up telling Casey about what happened.

Late that night, Alex finds herself clutching the blankets tightly as she whimpers quietly and twists and turns in her restless sleep. Moments later, her eyes snap open and she shoots up in bed, panting and covered in perspiration.

She runs a hand through her damn hair, and places the other against her chest, feeling her heart hammering against her chest at a rapid speed. As she begins to calm down, she realizes that it was only a nightmare, and she isn't back in her old bedroom as a child like she had imagined.

"Oh god." Alex whimpers quietly before she buries her head in her hands and begins to sob quietly. She knew that she shouldn't have told Melissa what happened to her, but for some strange reason, she went and listened to her conscience and did it anyway. Now she has to face the ever possibility that her sister will tell their mother what happened, and that is the last thing she needs. If anything, she wouldn't put it past her mother to look her dead in the eye and say that she was making the whole thing up.

With a sigh, she peels back the covers and makes her way out of the room where she softly pads down the hallway and cautiously sticks her head into Casey's bedroom. A tiny smirk appears across her face when she sees the redhead sprawled awkwardly across the bed; a typical sleeping position for Casey.

Alex quietly enters the room, and peels back the covers on the side of the bed that she would usually sleep on whenever she would stay over. Shuffling under the blankets, she smiles to herself when she feels an arm wrap itself around her midsection and pull her closer.

"Mmm, I was wondering when you we're gonna finally crawl into bed with me again." Casey purrs, her voice laced with sleep which causes Alex to giggle.

"Yes well, I sort of got a little lonely." Alex replies, sighing contently as she sinks down into the covers. Now she might actually make it through the entire night without having another horrid night terror.

**District Attorney's Office of Manhattan **

"You said that you had a meeting all morning." Casey says smugly as she crosses one leg over the other in the chair that she's currently occupying.

Abbie raises her eyebrows as she takes a seat in her chair at her desk, folding both hands across her lap. "On the contrary, I said that I had meetings. Plural."

"Something tells me that sticking your tongue down one of your ADA's throats does not count as a meeting."

"That was more of a, ah, personal meeting. That is also why you are supposed to knock before you enter a room Miss Novak."

"Doors have locks for a reason Abigail, and they aren't just there for decoration. Put it to use next time."

The two share a light laugh as they involuntarily slip into their typical snarky banter that they share with one another. It's almost as if for a moment nothing has changed between them over the course of the past several weeks.

Abbie sighs and clears her throat before she slightly leans across her desk. "What happened to us Case…"

"You mean before her after you became an ambitious asshole?" Casey responds flatly with a raise of an eyebrow.

"I suppose that I deserved that one." The brunette sighs as she leans back into her chair. "Listen, about that subpoena. After you signed it, I never sent it through to the DA."

A confused frown comes across Casey's face, and she shakes her head in confusion. "I don't understand. That's the only way that it would have become valid was if you got Liz to sign off on it as well."

"I'm aware of that. That's why I didn't send it. I-I couldn't do it Casey. I just…I tried, I sat down and thought about it, and I found out that I just couldn't do it." Abbie sighs as she drags a shaky hand through her hair. "The last thing that you or Al needs is for me to force you to do something like that, and if Liz wants to fire me when I lose this case, then so be it."

Casey looks Abbie in complete shock and her mouth practically falls agape as she doesn't know what to say. "Oh my god, Abbs, I-I don't know what to say." She gasps, pausing as a frown spreads across her features. "Wait, what do you mean, 'when'?"

The brunette groans and lets her head fall to her desk with a very audible 'thump'. "Someone's has been breaking into my office after hours I think. They've taken literally everything that I had pertaining to Alex's case. Files, police reports, my legal notes, statements; it's all gone. They even somehow hacked into my computer and deleted everything that I had from there. It makes no sense!"

"Wow, I really don't know what to say. You have no idea of who could've done this?"

"No clue whatsoever. Who ever did this, they really knew what they were doing, I can tell you that. I had my laptop password secured, and they were able to hack every last one of my passwords."

Casey frowns again and she cycles through her mind on who would possibly do such a thing. Hell, who has the SKILL to do such a thing? But she finds herself coming up with not one that fits within the category.

"That, is beyond strange. What are you gonna do?"

"To be honest, I have no idea."

**Later That Evening **

"I cannot believe that I'm doing this…" Amanda mutters as she knocks on the apartment door for a second time in the past five minutes. She shoves her hands in her pockets and waits patiently, silently praying that the person doesn't come to the door.

Her prayers, however, are not answered when she hears the locks to the door being turned. Seconds later, Sasha Kessler swings the door open, clad in a silk pink nighty complete with a matching robe.

"Detective Rollins, what a surprise." She greets smiling, giggling when she sees the look that flashes across the detective's face.

Amanda clears her throat awkwardly and mentally neglects the fact that this girl just opened the door with practically no clothes on. "Uh, good evening. I was actually hoping that I could speak with you again about your, ah, friend."

A grin spreads across the girls face as she steps aside and holds out her hand beckoning for the blonde to enter. "Please, come enter."

"Um…thank you." Amanda replies awkwardly, as she shuffles past Sasha, feeling a little uncomfortable when she can literally feel the woman's eyes following her.

"Can I get you anything? Wine? Water?"

"No, I'm fine thank you. I'm actually here to ask you about your friend Rachel again."

Sasha raises her eyebrows before folding her arms curiously. "Well I've already told you all that I knew." She says innocently as she takes a seat on the sofa.

"Well yes, but that's not why I'm here." Amanda states as she takes a seat on the sofa as well. "I came to actually ask about your relationship with Rachel."

"Oh? I thought I already explained that we were best friends?"

"Yes, but was there ever anything more than that? Was there ever a little more than friendship between the two of you?"

Sasha makes a face before she snorts and shakes her head vigorously. "Oh god no, nothing like that." She explains before she shuffles closer to the detective on the sofa. "No body really knows this, but I do kind of have a thing for older women too ya know. Especially detectives."

Amanda flushes as she feels a Sasha lean against her and run a perfectly manicured finger down her arm. "Uh, right." She murmurs, clearing her throat and standing up from the couch wanting to put as much distance between the two of them as possible. "So there was never anything between you two? Nothing that would make you, bitter because she was seeing someone else?"

"Detective Rollins, if you're insinuating that I killed my best friend then you're undeniably wrong." Sasha exclaims firmly as she stands up as well and presses herself against the detective, slightly resting her hands on the woman's belt buckle. "Is there anything that I could do to get you to possibly change your mind? Or are you willing to cuff me to make sure I behave?"

"Um, I-I have a gun ma'am."

"Ooo even more exciting."

Amanda swallows thickly, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable in the situation at hand. Now she is positive that she wishes that Liv had been the one to do this instead. Her eyes dart around the room looking for a potential out when they land on something sitting on the coffee table. "Are those your gloves?"

Sasha turns her attention away from the detective and glances at the gloves lying on her coffee table. "Uh, actually, those are Melanie's; I think that she left them here before she left. I need to return them to her."

"Uh, I was planning on stopping by to speak with her as well." Amanda lies, eying the leather gloves with curiosity. "I have no problem giving them to her."

"If you don't mind." Sasha shrugs as she leans down to pick up the gloves, but pauses when she feels a hand stop her.

"Uhm, do you happen to have a Ziploc bag? It looks like it's going to rain outside and I wouldn't want them to ruined."

"Sure of course, give me a moment."

Amanda sighs in relief as the young woman steps away from her. She shuffles her feet impatiently as Sasha returns and gives her the baggie. "Thank you." she utters quickly as she collects the gloves within the bag, securing them safely from any cross contamination. "Well I guess I'll just be off then."

"Oh that's such a shame." Sasha pouts. "I was hoping you could stay and we could discuss more over a glass of wine or something."

"Um no, I've actually got to go. It was…nice talking to you."

"You as well. Maybe I could call you sometime."

"Yeah…I doubt it…"

**1-6 Precinct **

"That's hilarious, I wish I could've been there!" Olivia laughs hysterically.

Amanda blushes and tosses a pen at her amused elder. "Nothing about that was funny! I'm serious Liv, the only thing that stopped that woman from ripping my clothes off was the fact that I carry a gun. But it doesn't matter because those gloves looked rather suspicious. If they match the particles that were found inside Rachel, we'll have evidence."

"Wait a sec, didn't you say that Sasha said those belonged to Melanie?" Olivia questions, recalling what exactly her partner told her.

"They're also covered in Melanie's DNA as well." Melinda states as she drops the paper work on Amanda's desk. "The particles match and I'm positive that it's the same glove. However, there I no trace of cleaning recently, so I would rule out your friend Sasha as a suspect. There was no trace of her DNA anywhere on either glove."

Amanda hums and leans back in her chair as she analyzes their new found information. "That still might not be enough to get the charges dropped against Alex."

"What I found might." Serena speaks up as she damn near runs into the squad room, clutching what looks like a DVD in her hand. "I went back to the hotel and asked to have a look at the security footage on that night."

Olivia sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Babe, what did we say about you snooping again? And on what grounds did you get any kind of footage from someone?!"

Serena smirks and holds up the disk smugly. "When you tell the manager, who is a complete idiot that you're Melissa Cabot and you'll have his job if he doesn't give you what you need."

"I don't understand…the hotel was getting their system rewired. How did we miss that?"

"Not every camera was down that night apparently. Now you ought to watch this, and believe it or not, you're gonna be shocked when you see this."

**I would love to have a friend like Serena, lol. Wonder what it is they found? Lol, leave your feedback!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I LOVE this chapter. I'm not going to lie; it is by far one of my favorites, if not my most favorite chapter. Happy readings!**

"The things that I do for the people I love." Serena grounds out through grit teeth as she shuts off her car and all but runs into the courthouse.

"Am I one of those people Baby?" Olivia's voice purrs seductively from the Bluetooth headset in the blonde's ear.

Serena rolls her eyes as if her lover could see her and quickly storms into the court house. "You know you are. Why else would I have gotten up at the ass crack of dawn to come down here and get a warrant? Honestly, it's only for you that I will do things like this."

"And take your clothes off, say you'll only take your clothes off for me too. "

"Benson, you are such a pervert sometimes I swear. Damn it, when I'm trying to hide from these damn judges they're buzzing around like flies but when I need one there isn't one in sight. It's so quiet in hear I could probably hear an ant piss."

Olivia's laughter breaks into Serena's rant, and the blonde attorney rolls her eyes again as she makes her way through the otherwise empty courthouse. "Thanks Liv, glad to know you're taking this seriously."

"I'm sorry Babe, your sarcasm just kills me sometimes." Olivia chuckles again before turning serious. "How much time do we have?"

Serena glances at her watch and huffs greatly as she rounds another corner. "Just a smidgen over two and a half hours. Baby I need you to start heading over to the DA's office from the precinct. When I get this warrant signed, I won't be able to bring it by, and get back to the office."

"Why do you need to go to the office so bad? I thought you were already needed at the courthouse?"

"Yes Liv, but there is something at the DA's office that I desperately need to take care of, and I promise you, you will thank me later for it."

Olivia is silent for the longest of moments and it's almost as if she can visibly see the gears turning in her girlfriend's head over the phone. "Serena, what is it that you desperately need. Are you stealing again?"

Serena scoffs before she squeals upon seeing a light under Judge David's chambers alerting her that the elderly woman was present. "No babe I'm no doing that, hey hold on a sec." she instructs as she knocks on the door, her heart leaping in joy when she receives a quick 'come on.'

Judge Martha David looks up at the petite attorney over her reading glasses and rests her chin in her hands. "Miss Southerlyn, to what do I owe this rather early visit?"

"I am so, so, SO, sorry to bother you, but I really need a warrant signed. It's urgent."

"What grounds counselor?"

Olivia listens intently as Serena rattles off their amount of evidence to the judge. She has to refrain from doing a victory leap when she hears the scratching of a pen and Serena's numerous amounts of thank you.

"I got it Liv! Now I was dead serious about you meeting me at the office." Serena says quickly, her heels clacking hurriedly against the tile as she sprints back to her car.

"I'll be there in less than ten minutes sweetie. Nice job by the way." the detective says affectionately as she ends the phone call.

Serena huffs and calms her heart rate as she jumps back into the car and prepares to make the short drive back to her office. Her fingers tap repeatedly against the steering wheel as the drive speeds, and she soon finds herself pulling into the parking garage. She careens into her parking space, just narrowly missing Liz's car, as she quickly gathers the needed paper work and runs into the office building.

"Serena!" Olivia shouts as soon as she sees the blonde step off the elevator.

"Here." Serena pants in response as she thrusts the warrant at the detective, thoroughly taken by surprise by the pair of lips that come crashing down on her own. She knows they have an audience as she moans into the kiss, and she knows this isn't the time for that but DAMN this woman can kiss. "We don't have time, later Baby. You have an arrest to go make."

Olivia nods her head and starts to walk off but stops dead in her tracks. "Baby, what ever it is you're doing, please…" she wanted conclude with 'don't do it' but she found herself concluding with "Make it quick."

"Oh I intend to." Serena mumbles as she turns around and quickly makes her way down the hall. She rounds several corners and lets out a shaky sigh of relief when she sees Abbie still in her office preparing for court. She regains her composure and steps into the office as if nothing is up. "You ready?"

Abbie looks up from what she's doing and chuckles humorlessly before she shakes her head. "Not really. In all honesty, this is the first time that I can actually say I don't want to go to court."

"Oh, are you nervous?" Serena asks innocently as she slips further into the room and closes the door behind her.

"Not really. I mean, I don't really get nervous. I just have a bad feeling about this in the pit of my stomach." The brunette exclaims with a shrug, her attention still on everything that she's putting in her brief case, and not her assistant who just so happens to be discretely scanning her book shelves. "I mean…I don't know Rena, this is just so hard you know? How am I supposed to go in there and look a woman I call a friend in the eye and tell her she's a murderer?"

Serena hums and picks up the thickest, heaviest, and largest book she can find off the shelf. The book is rather large in size to be a law book, but it's perfect for what she's gonna use it for. She relaxes visibly when she sees Abbie's attention isn't on her in the slightest.

"I understand what you're saying. Alex is a close friend, and even though you know she didn't do it, it's still gotta be hard to do your job." The blonde hums, balancing the book in her hand.

Abbie nods again before sighing heavily. "Yeah, I know. Like I said before, I'm hoping that it will be over as soon as it starts."

"Oh god Abbie, I am so sorry for this." Serena winces, as she apologizes in advance for what she's about to do.

"Yeah, me too…" Abbie responds, as she still thinks that Serena is talking about the case. Everything happens in under a second, and soon, the brunette feels a heavy wait on the back of her head, and then everything goes completely black.

Serena winces as her boss crumples to the floor at her feet with a thud. "Oh god, I know that hurt." She mumbles as she replaces the book onto the shelf. She then bends down and lifts Abbie's limp, unconscious body off the floor before settling her in the chair.

"You're pretty heavy to be so tall and thin you know that." she pants before she moves her fingers to the brunette's neck. "Oh thank god, I didn't kill her. Man, that would suck."

Serena then digs in one of the pockets of Abbie's blazer before she pulls out the familiar key ring that houses the key that she's looking for. The blonde turns back to her unconscious boss and lightly slaps her face, thankful when the elder attorney doesn't respond.

"Now you just…sit tight and don't wake up for like an hour or so." Serena says nicely as if she's talking to a conscious person. She turns out the lights in the office and locks the door with the key, before standing up straight and glancing around to make sure no one has seen her presence. _'Once again….the things that I do for the people I love.' _

**Meanwhile… **

"Oh god, I feel like I'm going to throw up." Alex groans and leans against the window as the car comes to a stop.

"Please don't puke in my car…" Melissa winces as she unbuckles her seatbelt and makes her way to the backseat. "Ali, come on, we have to get you inside before the press figures out that we would bring you in through the back."

Alex groans again and squeezes her eyes shut. "Case, don't make me go in there." She pleads to Casey who is now standing on the other side of her car door.

"We have to Alex. C'mon." the redhead offers her hand as she guides Alex out of the car. She wraps her arm around her love's waist as she leads the way into the courthouse, thankful out of the way of any of the press.

Once inside they run into Alex's attorney, Natalie, who thankfully has a bottle of water handy. "I assumed that she would need this when she got here." the dark haired woman states as she takes note of how much paler her client looks than usual.

Alex takes a sip from the bottle and nods her thanks when she feels slightly better than she did in the car. They day that she has been dreading most has finally come, and she feels like she's been thrust into a nightmare within the dark realms of the Twilight Zone.

Melissa gives her sisters hand a firm squeeze before planting a reassuring kiss to her cheek. "It'll all be okay Alex, I promise." She whispers. She would be lying if she said that her heart wasn't breaking for her sister and in more ways than one. She still can't get over what it was she learned that night in the park, and with each passing day she's finding it harder and harder to keep from storming Alex and damn near forcing her to tell their mother.

Alex shakily nods her head and gives the three women watching her closely a nod confirming that she is alright. "I'm okay…" she lies through her teeth. She knows perfectly well that she is far from okay, and the only thing that she can ask for is that she doesn't pass out in court.

**Across Town **

Olivia pounds on the door for what is probably the fifth time in the last six minutes. "Miss Taylor! NYPD, we need you to open the door!" she shouts once again. She huffs and glances at Amanda in irritation. "Why do I have a feeling that she's in there but just doesn't want to open the door." She mutters as the two of them draw their guns.

Amanda nods as she realizes that there is only one way they're gonna get in the apartment. They do have a warrant after all. "Because she probably is in there, and thinks that we're just coming to question her again."

"Well we're not." Olivia grumbles irritably before she takes a step back to gain momentum. She is about to move when she feels a hand grasp her arm firmly. "What is it?" she questions curiously, wondering why the younger detective suddenly stopped her.

Amanda smiles sheepishly before nodding her head towards the door. "I wanna do it. Working with you and the guys all the time I NEVER get to do it."

"Wow…" Olivia deadpans blankly as she steps out of the way. She grips her gun tightly as she watches the blonde take a step back before swiftly putting her foot through the door causing it to splinter and damn near fly off the hinges. To say that it looked impressive would be an understatement. "Damn..."

"Damn I've always wanted to do that." Amanda states as the two of them storm the apartment.

"With how that was I might just start letting you do it more often."

They move around with stealth like quickness, their guns ahead of them at all times, as they search every inch of the apartment. Olivia continues to check the downstairs, while Amanda heads upstairs and starts with one of the rooms. She steadies her gun and places her hand on the door knob before swinging the door open quickly.

"Oh my god!" Melanie screams as her lover scrambles off of her and the two cover themselves with the sheet. "Don't you people knock anymore?!"

"Uh, we did…" Amanda murmurs clearing her through and trying to hide the blush that's creeping down her neck. "I'm going to need the both of you to put some clothes on."

"Well not while you're watching!"

"Right." Amanda rolls her eyes as she sticks her head out the door. "Liv, I've got her!"

Moments later Olivia appears in the doorway, and finds Amanda standing in front of the room with two now thankfully fully clothed women. "Ma'am, I'm going to need you to step out of the room." she motions towards the confused blonde stranger, as she moves into the room towards the brunette eyeing her curiously. She places her hand on the girl's shoulder before moving behind her back, quickly handcuffing her.

"Melanie Taylor, you're under arrest for the rape and murder of Rachel Givens. You have the right to remain silent. Anything that you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can not afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you."

**Ahhhh! Like I said. It is by far one of my favorites. I absolutely LOVE Serena in this story. I know what she did up there was kind of drastic but…oh well. It was either that, or sleeping medication...and that was fun to write. Anyway, leave your feedback!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Ahh, this be the finale chapter for this story. Hope you enjoy!**

"Miss Southerlyn I must say this is highly unethical, but seeing as we seem to be absent our prosecutor, I will allow you to proceed." Petrovsky beckons with her hand for them to go on and explain to her why the woman they brought in is their killer.

Serena clears her throat and immediately brushes off the look Olivia is giving her as if the detective knows that she has something to do with the absence of the prosecuting attorney. Oh well, deal with it.

"Your Honor, there is evidence that has led us to believe and actually confirms the fact that Rachel Givens' murder is in fact this woman, Melanie Taylor."

"Evidence?"

"You see, I will not deny that on the night of the murder, the accused Alexandra Cabot was in fact present in Miss Givens' hotel room. But because her arrest was made a few days after the murder, there was no way for police to test her for alcohol intake, so it was presumably immediately ruled out that Miss Cabot was drunk, which in the police report, she stated that she was, and could there for not remember a thing, thus leading to the possible conclusion that she passed out due to her alcohol intake."

"Miss Southerlyn, I'm not seeing your point." The judge interjects with a raise of both eyebrows. Granted, she wants the chargers dropped against Alex, but she can't formerly do that if there is no residing evidence that disproves her as a suspect.

Serena fights the urge to roll her eyes and then proceeds to hold up the separate plastic Ziploc bags that contain the murder weapon as well as the leather gloves. "These leather gloves were the same leather gloves that were used at the crime scene. The medical examiner reexamined the body, and found particles from a glove inside of the victim. Now, had Miss Cabot been our rapist like it is so suggested, why would her DNA be found on the victim as well as these particles from the glove? Why would she rape our victim with gloves AFTER her DNA was already there? After doing some more examining, it is found that the same particles and residue were found on the murder weapon as well. These gloves that were acquired by detectives were later swabbed for DNA, and the only DNA that was found on the gloves was that of Melanie Taylor, and Rachel Givens."

"This is bullshit; you can't even prove that I was even there at her hotel room." Melanie spits angrily speaking up for the very first time since she was arrested.

"Yes actually I can." Serena moves on holding up the disc from the hotel. "Security footage from the hotel shows Miss Taylor arriving and leaving our victim's hotel room, all with in the approximate time span that the murder was committed. When swabbed for other traces of evidence, the victims DNA showed up on Miss Cabot's wrists, which was assumed seeing as it has been proven that two of them did engage in sexual contact. What was over looked in the examination report is the fact that those same particles from the glove were also found on Miss Cabot's wrists."

The judge frowns again as the newfound evidence explanation slightly confuses her. "Explain how that is relevant."

Serena nods her head and glances around before she approaches the bench. "May I borrow your gavel, Your Honor? It will only take a moment." She asks hopefully, watching as the Petrovsky eyes her for a long moment before handing the gavel down from the bench. "Thank you Your Honor. Uh, Miss Novak, if you would please come here a moment."

Casey who had been listening intently is taken completely off guard by Serena calling her forward. She rises from her seat and walks pasts the detectives to where the attorney is waiting for her with the gavel. _'Oh god, is she about to hit me?'_ "Uh, yeah?"

Serena says nothing more as she reaches down and grabs hold of one of Casey's wrists with her free hand. "Let us pretend that I am Miss Taylor, Miss Novak is Miss Cabot, and this, is the murder weapon. Let us also pretend that I am wearing the leather gloves, and that Miss Novak is unconscious due to her intoxicated state." She concludes before she sets out to prove her point.

Serena then uses her hand that's holding Casey's wrist to take control of the redhead's fingers and then proceeds to manually wrap them around the handle of the gavel. "As you can see, because of the no control Miss Novak has in her intoxicated state, I am able to wrap her fingers around the murder weapon, THUS, leaving her prints there for investigators to find. At the same time while doing so, I, myself, am leaving behind the residue of my gloves on her wrist knowing that it may be over looked since it is such a tiny piece of evidence. Since I am able to get Miss Novak's prints on the murder weapon, I can easily pin the murder on her when it was actually myself who committed the crime. There is video evidence there is physical evidence that proves otherwise that Alexandra Cabot, is not your murderer." She concludes before pointing her finger at Melanie. "THAT, Your Honor, THAT is your murderer."

Lena raises her eye brows once again as she has to resist the urge to applaud. Not once in all her time of being a judge has she ever seen a situation like this, where a murder was disproved and then another was proved perfectly in the same court all within the span of under forty five minutes. The evidence matches up perfectly, and it seemed to have taken extreme and precise detective work to figure this all out. To say that she is impressed by this would be a complete understatement.

"Miss Taylor, what do you have to say for yourself?" the judge asks the young woman who seems to be in a glaring match with the sudden prosecutor turned defense attorney for the day.

"The bitch deserved to die." Melanie spits angrily as she finally meets gazes with the judge. "She was spoiled rotten and too high maintenance to care about anyone other than her self. I loved her, but she was too much of a blind idiot to understand that. She brushed me off like I was NOTHING. I wanted her dead, and that drunk idiot was just he perfect person to pin it on."

"She's talking about me, isn't she?" Alex whispers to her attorney who simply chuckles and pats her on the shoulder.

"I would have gotten away with it too, if my dumbass of a best friend hadn't given my gloves to the fucking cops." Melanie concludes with a deathly glare towards a gaping Sasha.

"Enough." Petrovsky interrupts, going to bang her gavel but rolls her eyes when she realizes that it is still in Serena's possession. "Miss Taylor, seeing as that was technically your trial, and you have just confessed to the murder, I see no reason for the jury to discuss your fate. So to end this, I hereby issue the sentence of rape, and murder to the first degree which rounds out to…"

"Life Your Honor." Serena speaks up as she gives the judge her gavel back.

"Right, thank you Miss Southerlyn. May the convicted be immediately escorted to federal prison. Bailiff?"

Melanie scowls as she keeps her head down and the bailiff leads her out of the courtroom. She can't believe that she was roughly a few days from getting away with it, and if it weren't for Sasha, she would have.

The judge watches the retreating forms of the bailiff and the convicted before she turns back to the court in front of her. "In addition, I will also see to it that all charges against the falsely accused will be dropped. Miss Cabot, on behalf of this court, the District Attorney's Office, and the entire state of New York; I apologize. This court is dismissed." She concludes with a bang of her gavel.

Tears spring to Alex's eyes as she immediately rushes her best friend and envelopes her into the worlds tightest hug. "Oh my god Serena, I have no idea how to thank you."

"You can start by letting me breathe." Serena chuckles as she returns the hug. "I knew that you didn't kill anyone sweetie, and it took some work, but now everyone else knows that as well. I'm proud of you for hanging in there."

Alex gives the shorter blonde another smile before she turns to give her thanks to her now two favorite detectives.

"Does this mean we get passes from ass chewing now?" Amanda asks hopefully with a wide smile.

"Not hardly." Alex deadpans chuckling at Amanda's face. "Thank you two, for all that you've done. I can't thank you enough."

"Ah, anything for you Alex, you know we love ya." Liv says with a small shrug, strategically leaving out all of the illegalness Serena probably committed in the process."

Outside of the courthouse, Alex finds herself pulled into a tight hug, lifted from the ground, and spun around a few times. "Jesus Casey, are you trying to kill me."

"Nope." Casey responds cheekily before she pulls the blonde into a deep kiss not giving a damn about their peers or the press, all she cares about is showing the object of her affections how much she loves her. "I'm so glad this is over."

"Mmm, you're not the only one. Maybe I should get arrested more often if it'll get you to kiss me like that." Alex purrs as she leans in for another quick kiss. "Listen, I made myself a promise when we were in that courtroom, and now I'm determined to keep it. Can I meet you back at your apartment? We need to have a talk."

"Sure of course, but what's it about?"

"I'll…I need to have a talk with my family first, but I promise that we'll talk about it." _'As much as I will allow myself to talk about it.'_

**Cabot Estate **

"Alexandra, I can not express enough how much I am thankful that you are out of this mess." Veronica says cheerfully as she and her three daughters occupy one of the family rooms. She catches the look on Alex's face, and she looks at her eldest daughter in confusion. "What's the matter?"

Alex opens and closes her mouth several times as the words don't seem to form properly. "Lauren really doesn't need to hear this, it would be best for her if she went into another room."

The youngest Cabot starts to get up from the sofa but pauses when she feels her oldest sister's hand on her shoulder. Melissa makes eye contact with Alex before she shakes her head. "Alex, she's our sister, not one of our children. She has a right to know as well. The very last thing we need is family secrets."

Alex shakily nods her head in agreement. "You're right." She murmurs before she casts her gaze down to her nervously wringing hands. "There really is no easy way to say this for me. But I made myself a promise, and being a woman of my word, I do not go back on my promises."

"Dear, what's going on?" Veronica asks worriedly, her gaze transition between her two oldest daughters in slight fear.

Alex closes her eyes to hold back her tears as she takes a deep breath, preparing herself for what she is about to say. "Over the course of eleven years, I was raped by our father…in this house, almost every night until I was seventeen years old."

Any and all of the color completely drains from Veronica's face, and like Lauren; she sits completely petrified and glued to her seat, not knowing what to say. Does she believe it? Does she deny it? Does she accept it? She just doesn't know what to say?

"Did you know about this?" the eldest Cabot croaks as she turns towards Melissa.

"I only told her a few nights ago. I've never told anyone else other than Melissa and now you and Lauren. In that courthouse, I made a promise to myself that if I was let go, that I would tell you and Casey about what happened to me." Alex murmurs, still not looking away from her hands.

Veronica closes her mouth and shakes her head before she turns her gaze towards the window. "Why didn't you ever say anything? Why did you let it go on for so long with out saying a word?"

"He threatened me Mom…I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't let him hurt you or Melissa and I was so scared I didn't know what else to do."

"Did he ever touch you?" Veronica whispers as she glances at Melissa briefly.

Melissa shakes her head and wraps her arms around her self. "No, he never touched me once."

"Well, he can be thrown in prison for it right?" Lauren speaks up finally coming out of her shock.

Alex snorts and shakes her head. Working in special victims she's seen things like this before on numerous occasions. "Sweetie, it was seventeen years ago. Frankly, I think that it would do more harm than good if I said anything now. I mean, he would just deny everything and there really is no proof. I work in SVU, and trust me, as much as it kills me to say it, emotional scarring isn't enough evidence to get a conviction."

**Casey Novak's Apartment **

"But you could still say something…what if he's done this to other children? What if…doesn't your Mom know where he is?" Casey questions, her heart rate still in rapid mode from what she has just learned.

Alex shakes her head and draws her knees up to her chest. "She has no idea where he is. Rumor has it, he dropped all his funding on her, and fled the country, but that's just a rumor."

Casey wraps the blonde into her arms and places a kiss to the top of her head. "How did your family take it when you told them?"

"They were…in shock." Alex explains, wincing as she recalls the look on her mother's face. "I don't think that Mom wanted to believe me, but as I explained further, she broke down and cried. Poor Lauren though. I don't ever think she's been so glad to have not known her father."

"I'm so sorry this happened to you. I wish you would have told me sooner…"

"I was scared to tell you, because I didn't know what you would think of me. I had it in my head that you would think I was disgusting, or you would look at me like one of our rape victims, and I just…I didn't know how."

A sliver of hurt flashes in Casey's eyes as she takes Alex's hands in her own. "Sweetheart, I love you with everything that I have. There is nothing in the world that would make me think that you are disgusting, and I don't ever want to hear those words come out of your mouth ever again."

A sad smile appears on Alex's lips, and she leans forward to claim Casey's lips in her own. "I realize that now, because I know how much you love me. Just like you know how much I love you."

**Two Weeks Later **

"A toast to new beginnings." Casey states proudly as she wraps her arm around her lover as they enjoy a well earned drink with their friends.

"How about a toast to SVU getting their ADA's back, so the rest of us don't have to do your work." Serena offers in a mock indignant tone.

"Or a toast to getting hit in the back of the head with one of your own law books because your assistant tried to stall you from going to court." Abbie adds in, causing the rest of the table to laugh and Serena to blush. "A toast to concussions!"

"You were fine." Kim speaks up for the first time with a faint smile. "The doctor said that it was just barely a miniscule concussion,"

"We all know how much of a big baby Abbie is when she gets hurt." Olivia states with a smirk. "You should have seen her the last time she had a paper cut. If she had had her way, she would have gotten a blood transfusion."

Abbie sticks her tongue out at the detective before leaning back in her chair. "Whatever, it was a really serious paper cut."

"Yeah, about as serious as that time that you closed your foot in the door." Alex adds in smugly.

"Serena hit me with a book, does that count for something!?"

"She did it out of love." Casey responds earning an eye roll before turning to Amanda. "Speaking of love, has that girl left you alone yet?"

The younger detective sits pin straight in her seat and screws up her face in disdain. "NO! She some how has gotten my phone number! I never gave her my card!"

Olivia continues to smugly sip her drink and wraps an arm around Serena who is also trying to hide her smirk. Oh god this is just too funny.

"She sounds creepy." Kim murmurs with her own tone of disgust.

"She IS creepy! The very last time I went to question her about her friends, I can tell that she was just itchin' to rip my clothes off and have her way with me. I was sooooo uncomfortable. Like I said, I have no idea how she mysteriously came in to my phone number…"

Alex snickers as she catches the looks passing between Liv and Serena. "Something tells me however she got you number was no accident." She chuckles before taking a sip of her own drink. "Oh well, back to the usual bump and grind of work."

Truth be told, Alex has never been more grateful to go back to work. She gets to do the job she loves alongside the woman that she loves with all her heart and soul, and for that, she is thankful for every single day.

**Endings are not my specialty guys sorry :/ but I hope you enjoyed this story! I enjoyed writing it, and I remember how excited I was when I first came up with the idea for it. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy, and I look forward to seeing you guys in my next story. It's already lined up waiting in the wings, and it's a surprise ;) so for the last time on this, leave your feedback!**


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